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THE WONDER-WORKER
OF PADUA

BY

CHARLES WARREN STODDARD

THE AVE MARIA

NOTRE DAMB, INDIANA
U. S. A.

COPYRIGHT, 1896
BY D. E. HUDSON, C. S. C.

To the

C. W. S. R. C, Salem, Mass.,
with Aloha.

293498

THE WONDER-WORKER OF
PADUA

PROLOGUE. THE FIVE FRIARS.

THE afternoon shadows were length-
ening under the walls of the monas-
tery of Santa Cruz, a house of the
Canons Regular of St. Augustine,
at Coimbra. Life within that holy
house stole on as slowly, as regu-
larly, and for the most part as
silently, as those deepening shadows.
Each morning it was renewed as
cheerfully as broke the dawn upon
the waves that wash the shores of
Portugal; each noon it was radiant
with the fulness of spiritual joy;
each evening it hushed itself to rest
with prayer and praise; and these
three epochs in the daily life of
the cloister were heralded by the
mellow peal of the Angelus as it

2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

was wafted over the embosoming
hills, and throbbed into silence in
far-off, fainting echoes.

Now and again something oc-
curred in the monastery something
slight in itself, but enough to break
in upon the peaceful current of
events and create an interest or
excitement that fairly startled the
gentle occupants. There were guests
from time to time quite a number
of them; for the worldly are ever
curious concerning the inner life of
those who though in the world are
not of it. Therefore there was a
guest-master at Santa Cruz, as there
is always a guest-master in every
monastery; and his office it is to
receive those who desire to see the
chapels, the relics, the cloisters. It
is the duty and the pleasure of
this guest-master to conduct visitors
through the monastery and to en-
tertain them; and thus relieve the
friars from all distractions, such as
sudden and unexpected calls from
prayer or labor.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 3.

One day at Santa Cruz five
stranger guests arrived three priests
and two lay -brothers, disciples of
St. Francis, whose Order was then
but ten years old. These friars had
been assigned to the mission in
Morocco, and were on their way
thither when they sought the hos-
pitality of the Abbey of Santa Cruz,
Who shall say that it was chance
alone that brought them thither?
They were Franciscans. Not far
distant from Coimbra, the pious
Queen of Portugal had established
the Convent of St. Anthony of
Olivares; it was situated in an
olive grove, whence it derived its
name. The house was small and
poor, but it was large enough to
shelter the five friars; and the
Brother Questor, whose duty it was
to ask alms for the needs of the
brethren, would have gladly shared
his frugal fare with these apostles
who were on their way to martyr-
dom in Morocco. But they passed
Olivares and sought the gates of

4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Santa Cruz, and were there given
heartfelt welcome.

Was it for this reason that, as
the Franciscan chronicles tell us,
" Queen Urraca sent for and lovingly
received the friars"? For indeed
she held their Order in great esteem,
and inquired many things concern-
ing their errand, most courteously
offering to supply all their wants.
Not content with the brief account
of their General's intention which
they gave her, this lady, thirsting
as the hart for the word of God,
engaged them in spiritual discourse,
drawing thence much sweetness and
consolation; then, taking them
apart, she besought them, for the
love of Him for whose sweet name
they were going to torments and
death, to beg of Almighty God to
reveal to them the day on which
she should die. And, albeit the
friars endeavored by all means to
escape her importunity, saying that
they were most unworthy to know
the secrets of the Lord, and other

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 5

words of like import, yet did she
at length prevail with them to give
her that promise which she craved.
And so, after fervent prayer, they
again came before the Queen and
bade her be of good courage; for
that it was the will of God that her
end should be very shortly, and
before that of the King, her husband.
Moreover, they gave her a sure
sign; for, "Know, lady," they said,
"that before many days we shall
die by the sword for the faith of
Christ. Praised be His Divine Maj-
esty, who has chosen us, poor men,
to be in the number of His martyrs !
Our bodies shall be brought into
this city with great devotion by
the Christians of Morocco, and you
and your husband shall go to meet
them. When these things shall come
to pass, know that the time is come
for you to leave this world and go
to God."

The guest-master of Santa Cruz
was a youth of four and twenty,
who was already ordained. He had a

6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

marvellously beautiful countenance
and was singularly engaging in
manner. Naturally, he was thrown
much in the society of the friars,
and often conversed with them of
the extraordinary history of Porti-
uncula and of the miracles wrought
by their seraphic Father, St. Francis
of Assisi. Certain it is that the
five friars perished in their blood
at the hands of the infidels. Their
bodies were brought home in solemn
state, attended by various super-
natural manifestations calculated to
inspire reverence and awe.

It was the King's wish that these
relics of the first Franciscan martyrs
should rest in the principal church
of the capital; but they were mys-
teriously guided or conveyed to the
monastery of Santa Cruz, where
they had lodged, and where his
Majesty had a superb chapel erected,
in which the relics were reposited.

Many marvels were witnessed at
that shrine, and these deeply touched
the heart and the spirit of the

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 7

young guest-master. But a few
months before he had held converse
with these very friars, who were then
joyously seeking the palm and the
crown of martyrdom; now they
were in paradise, and he was kneel-
ing beside their holy dust, a poor
friar groping blindly after that light
that should illumine him and make
clear his path of life.

One day, kneeling at that tomb,
his heart aflame with love and
veneration, from the depths of his
soul he cried out: "O that the
Most High would grant me to be
associated with them in their glorious
sufferings! That to me also it were
given to be persecuted for the
faith to bare my neck to the exe-
cutioners! Will that blessed day
ever dawn for thee, Fernando? Will
such happiness ever be thine?"
Thus, through chaste communion
with the five friars call it not
chance that brought their hearts
together, through the sufferings, by
the sacrifice, and at the tomb of

8 The W onder-W orker of Padua

the five martyrs, did Fernando de
Bouillon find his vocation.

The W onder-W orker of Padua

I,

FERNANDO THE NOVICE.

WHO was Fernando de Bouillon?
He was the son of Martino de
Bouillon, and Teresa Tavera, his
wife, who were of ancient lineage
and noble birth. Don Martino de-
scended from the illustrious Godfrey
de Bouillon, who led the first Cru-
sade and was the first Prankish
King of Jerusalem. He was the
grandson of Vincenzo de Bouillon,
who followed King Alfonzo I. in
his campaign against the Moors,
and who, in acknowledgment of his
deeds of valor, was made governor
of Lisbon. This office became hered-
itary in the family of De Bouillon;
and Fernando, as first son of the
house, was heir to it. And Dona
Teresa was hardly less illustrious.

jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Her ancestors had reigned over the
Asturias in the eighth century, until
the invasion by the Saracens.

Don Martino and Dona Teresa
occupied a sumptuous palace close
to the cathedral of Lisbon. Here
Fernando was born on the i5th of
August, 1195. Eight days after his
birth he was carried with great
pomp to the cathedral, and there
received in baptism the name of
Fernando.

Though nothing of a prophetic
nature preceded the birth of Fer-
nando, it was soon evident that he
was no ordinary child. Born on
the Feast of the Assumption, it
was at the shrine of Our Lady
del' Pilar he received the grace of
baptism. To the Blessed Virgin his
mother consecrated the babe when
returning from the baptismal font;
Maria was the first name he learned
to utter, and the hymn he heard
oftenest from his mother's lips was
"O Gloriosa Domina!" As a child,
the sight of an image or a painting

The Wonder -Worker of Padua n

of the Madonna would change his
tears to smiles; as a religious, he
placed himself under the special
protection of the Blessed Virgin;
as an apostle, he was her champion,
ever sounding her praises, ever ready
to do battle in her cause. At the
age of ten, beautiful in form and
feature, with an inner spiritual
beauty that gave his face an almost
angelic expression, possessed of a
sweet and gladsome nature, a quick
intelligence and a lively imagination,
he had already shown a preference
for the secluded paths of a religious
life.

During five years of his infancy
Fernando attended the cathedral
school in Lisbon, clothed in the
garb of a cleric. He was a pattern
of all the proprieties. In this ex-
quisitely refined child virtue blos-
somed like a flower, and breathed
forth a delicate fragrance that all
who approached him became con-
scious of.

It was now he gave the first

1 2

12 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

manifestation of that power which,
through him, was to work wonders
so long as he lived, wonders that
have never ceased, and are never
to cease in this ever-wondering
world. Kneeling one day at the
shrine of Our Lady in the cathedral,
his eyes on the tabernacle wherein
the Blessed Sacrament was veiled,
a demon, one of those baleful spirits
that still tempt and delude the un-
wary, appeared before him. Startled
as he was, with the pious instinct
of nature he traced upon the marble
step where he was kneeling the
Sign of the Cross. The vision van-
ished, but to this hour is seen that
sacred symbol indelibly impressed
upon the marble. In that hour
Fernando 's fate was sealed.

With everything to make life allur-
ing youth, beauty, health, wealth,
high birth and gentle breeding, de-
voted parents and idolizing friends
the child turned from them all. It
was his destiny. Already able to
meditate upon the foolish rewards

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 73

of life and labors in the world and
for the world alone, Fernando ex-
claimed: "O world, how burthen-
some thou art become ! Thy power
is but that of a fragile reed; thy
riches are as a puff of smoke, and
thy pleasures like a treacherous rock
whereon virtue is shipwrecked."

He seems to have resolved on this
occasion to enter the religious life;
to turn from the luxurious delights
that had never appealed to his
nature, and accept poverty, humil-
ity, and obedience as his portion.
This resolution once formed, nothing
could cause him to reconsider it.

At the gate of the Abbey of
St. Vincent he implored admission;
"being attracted thither," as the
chronicle quaintly records, "by the
renown for learning and holiness of
its men." Surely nothing could
have offered him a more pleasing
prospect than the society of such
as these ; nothing afforded him more
perfect satisfaction.

14 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

II.
FERNANDO THE SCHOLASTIC.

WHAT wonder that the child should
have turned from the world in his
fifteenth year, when most children
at that stage of development find
an indescribable joy in mere physi-
cal existence? From his earliest
infancy his life was an involuntary
consecration. He was meekness,
compassion, love personified. He
had a special devotion to the im-
poverished and all those in sorrow
and affliction. He was never known
to utter a falsehood. All the offices
of the Church were dear to him.
He never failed to hear Mass daily,
and joyfully and most reverently
to serve. Our Blessed Lady, pattern
of purity, was his chosen patroness.
For the amusements which were
the delight of his companions he

The W onder-W orker of Padua 75

cared nothing; the pleasures of
life he never knew, and hoped never
to know. He was the natural enemy
of idleness; was instinctively studi-
ous; and of a sweet solemnity,
which did not oppress but rather
edified his associates, and endeared
him to them.

What wonder that he should turn
from the madding crowd and seek
the seclusion of a cloister? There
was nothing unwholesome, nothing
unnatural in his resolve to quit the
world while yet a child in years.
For a youth of his temperament
a temperament which was an angelic
heritage there is really but one
step to be taken; firmly, but in all
humility, he took it.

Without the walls of Lisbon stood
the Monastery of St. Vincent, a
house of the Canons Regular of
St. Augustine. Having obtained the
leave of his parents, he went thither;
and, casting himself at the feet of
the prior called by some Gonsalvo
Mendez and by others Pelagius,

1 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

he asked to be admitted to the
holy brotherhood. Naturally edified
by the gentle and reverent spirit
of the youth who knelt before him,
the prior received him with affec-
tionate tenderness, and in due course
of time he was clothed in the white
robe of the Order.
Jk< What happiness of heart was his,
what peace of spirit, what serenity
of soul! Alas! they were short-
lived. His friends, missing him sorely
sought him at all seasons. If he
had before this been to them an
engaging mystery, a surprise by
reason of his unlikeness to them and
to any other whom they knew, he
was now, clad in the pale robe of
the Augustinians, their wonder and
delight. He drew them irresistibly
to the monastery, and their well-
meant but .ill-timed visitations were
a distraction which he could not
long endure.

Two years were enough, and more
than enough, to assure him that
at St. Vincent's, let him strive never

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 17

so bravely against such a fate, he
was in danger of losing his voca-
tion. He must seek security in
solitude, in exile; and that without
delay, if he would attain the per-
fection which was his aim in life.
It was in no bitterness of spirit,
no pride, no impatience, he turned
from all who loved him most. It
was an honest and an earnest effort
on his part to reach that state of
grace for which his heart was hunger-
ing night and day. At St. Vincent's
he was neighbor to the world and
the worldly life he cared not for.
He must fly hence, at any cost to
comfort, temporal or spiritual. He
must steel his heart to the sweet
assaults of earthly love; for the
unity, peace and concord he sought
found no abiding place under heaven
save in cloistral seclusion.

The prior of St. Vincent's had,
during the two years of Fernando 's
sojourn there, beheld with joy the
fervor of the youth; and when that
youth implored him to be allowed

1 8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

to depart into some other house of
the Order some house far removed
from Lisbon and the voices that
were constantly crying to him to
return to them again, the prior
was for a season loath to give him
leave; but, as the old chronicler
says: "Having at length, by tears
and prayers, obtained the consent
of his superior, he quitted not the
army in which he was enlisted, but
the scene of combat; not through
caprice, but in a transport of fervor. "

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

III.
FERNANDO THE AUGUSTINIAN CANON.

NEARLY a hundred miles from Lisbon
stood the Abbey of Santa Cruz. It
was lapped in the seclusion of Coim-
bra; it was far from the trials, the
temptations, the tribulations of the
work-a-day world. It was the
motherhouse of the Augustinians,
the head cradle of the Order.
The sweet influences of the saintly
Theaton, its first prior, still per-
fumed it. It was the centre and the
source of all the noblest traditions
of the tribe, the inspiration of the
clergy, the consolation and the pride
of the loyal and widely scattered
brotherhood.

The Abbey was a far-famed seat
of learning. There Religion and
Letters went hand in hand. Don

2O The Wonder -Worker of Padua

John and Don Raymond, both
Doctors of the University of Paris,
were among the scholars at Santa
Cruz. For a student, for a religious,
for a recluse, there was no retreat
in Portugal more desirable than
this; and thither Fernando was sent.

His new brethren were not long
in convincing themselves that Fer-
nando 's change of residence had
not been made without reflection,
and that the love of novelty had
no share in his decision. He had,
it is true, ardently longed for soli-
tude and tranquillity; but, far from
seeking therein a dispensation from
the rigor of monastic life, he sought
but a means to perfect himself
in virtue. At Lisbon he had read
the literature of pagan antiquity;
at Santa Cruz he devoted himself
to the study of theology, the
Fathers, history, religious contro-
versy. Above all these, the Sacred
Scriptures won his ardent attention.

He was seventeen years of age
when he entered Santa Cruz. He

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 21

was completely detached from the
world. Nature had in every way
richly endowed him. His memory
was prodigious. All knowledge came
to him freely, without effort; and,
once acquired, it never left him
more, but, beautifully adjusted and
ready for instant use, it seemed
literally at his tongue's end.

Eight years he passed at Santa
Cruz, in obedience, in prayer, in
study. He grew continually in vir-
tue he was virtue's self. Devoted
to his books, he never permitted
the study of them to interfere with
the pious duties allotted him. On
one occasion, being employed in
some remote part of the Abbey, he
heard the note of the Elevation
bell; turning toward the chapel,
he prostrated himself, and beheld
the distant altar, and the Sacred
Host in the hands of the celebrant,
beheld them all as plainly as if the
intervening walls had vanished away.

Nor was this the only wonder
he worked at Santa Cruz. While

22 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

nursing one of the religious, the
patient a victim of obsession-
became uncontrollable. Fernando,
spreading the hem of his mantle
over the sufferer, brought to him
instant and permanent relief.

His erudition grew to be the
subject of general comment. He
knew the Holy Bible by heart; he
seemed to have taken the sense and
substance of it to his soul, so that
it became a part of him. In one
of his commentaries he wrote: "O
divine Word, admirable Word, that
inebriatest and changest the heart,
Thou art the limpid source that
refreshest the parched soul; the
ray of hope that givest comfort to
the poor sinner; the faithful mes-
senger that bringest glad tidings to
us exiles of our heavenly country!"

He never forgot what he had once
studied; though the time was to
come when the calls upon him were
so many and so various he had no
moment in which to read anything
save only his breviary.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 23

IV.

FERNANDO BECOMES ANTONIO.

NOT far from the Monastery of
Santa Cruz, at Olivares, stood the
Franciscan Abbey of the Olives.
This holy house was small and poor.
It was named in honor of St. An-
thony of the Desert; his poverty,
his frugality, his sobriety were
patterns for the frati who dwelt
there. They lived upon the tribute
gathered by the humble supplicants
who went forth daily asking alms
of the faithful. Often they had
knocked at Fernando 's door; often
he had shared his bread and his
wine with them; and he was begin-
ning to feel a personal interest
in them when the five friars who
were afterward martyred in Morocco
sought the hospitality of Santa Cruz,

24 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

where he soon grew to know them
intimately.

The martyrdom of the friars, the
transportation of their relics to Por-
tugal, and the shrine prepared for
them at Santa Cruz, the knowledge
he had gained of the origin and de-
velopment of the Franciscan Order,
inspired Fernando with a longing
to become himself a follower of St.
Francis.

Now the solitude he had sought
and found in the cloister at Santa
Cruz began to pale. He feared he
was wasting his life; he felt that
his energy and enthusiasm should
be placed at the disposal of those
who were in crying need ; and surely
there were many such. He would
even follow in the footsteps of the
five friars; he also would offer his
body to be martyred for Christ's
sake and for love of his fellowmen.
Therefore when the Brother Questor,
whose duty it was to ask alms for
the needs of the Convent at Olivares,
came to Santa Cruz, Fernando talked

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 25

long and earnestly with him con-
cerning the rule of his Order and
the wonderful founder thereof.

This Brother Questor and Fer-
nando were in close sympathy. One
day when Fernando was saying
Mass the Brother Questor died. At
that moment Fernando, dissolved in
ecstasy, saw his soul in its flight
through purgatory, ascending dove-
like into the realms of bliss. It may
have been this vision, or it may
have been the glorious sacrifice of
the martyr friars, or the poverty
and devotion of the brotherhood,
that inspired Fernando with the
desire to become one of them; we
know not what was the primal cause,
but we know that with difficulty he
obtained leave of the prior of Santa
Cruz to detach himself from the
Augustinians and join the followers
of St. Francis.

He had won the respect, the love,
the esteem, the admiration of his
associates at Santa Cruz ; they would
fain not part with him. One said

26 The W onder-W orker of Padua

to him, half in jest and half in
earnest: "Go thy way; thou wilt
surely become a saint." Fernando
replied: "When they tell thee I
am a saint, then bless thou the
Lord/'

In applying for admission to the
Franciscan ranks, Fernando had
said: "With all the ardor of my
soul do I desire to take the holy
habit of your Order ; and I am ready
to do so upon one condition that,
after clothing me with the garb of
penance, you send me to the Sar-
acens, so that I also may deserve
to participate in the crown of your
holy martyrs/'

Then he put off the white robe of
the Augustinians and donned the
brown garb of the impoverished
Franciscans; took unto himself the
name of Antonio, the patron of the
hermitage of Olivares; and, without
one adieu, joyfully vanished from
the knowledge of all those who had
known and loved him in the flesh.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 27

V.

ANTHONY SEEKS MARTYRDOM.

NOT all who seek shall find. An-
tonio, or Anthony, was permitted
to go to Morocco, where he hoped
to end his days in an effort toward
the conversion of the Moslems. What
dreams were his! what hopes, what
aspirations! He was now in very
truth following in the footsteps of
the five friars who were his first
inspiration. He was in a land whose
history was made glorious by Ter-
tullian, St. Augustine, St. Fulgen-
tius; great pontiffs and learned
doctors. The day of its prosperity
was over and gone. Its flourishing
churches had fallen to decay, and
the arrogance of the infidel made it
unsafe for a Christian to pace the
narrow streets of those white-walled
cities unattended.

28 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Under an ever-cloudless sky, in
the glare of the fierce sunshine and
the heat of the desert dust, Anthony
was stricken down with fever. Fi-
lippo of Spain, a young lay -brother
who had attached himself to his
person, watched with Anthony the
whole winter. Not once did the
would-be martyr have the oppor-
tunity of exposing himself to the
fury of the African fanatics. He
was utterly prostrated; his life
seemed to be slowly ebbing away.
Evidently his efforts as a missioner
in Morocco were doomed. The fact
could not be kept a secret; and
accordingly Anthony and Filippo
were recalled to Portugal by their
superiors, after an absence of but
four months.

They dutifully embarked, though
their hearts were heavy with dis-
appointment. The martyr's palm
might wither in the desert; it was
evidently not reserved for them.
Neither were they destined to return
to Portugal. A white squall struck

The Wonder- Worker of Padua 29

their vessel, and it was cast upon
the Sicilian shore. Anthony and
Filippo landed at Taormina, and at
once made their way to Messina,
where there was a convent of the
Friars Minor. Here for two months
the young friars reposed ; here health
and strength returned to Anthony,
and he entered upon a new lease of
life. Here, in the convent garden,
he planted a lemon tree that flour-
ishes to this hour; for, like the
orange tree planted by St. Dominic
at Santa Sabina on the Aventine,
time can not wither it; and every
succeeding year bud, blossom and
fruit give testimony of its eternal
youth.

About this time the official notice
of the convocation of the fourth
general chapter of the Franciscan
Order reached Messina. Anthony,
Filippo, and certain of the Sicilian
friars resolved to go to Assisi; and
it was Anthony's desire to place
himself at the disposal of the holy
founder. In doing the will of St.

jo The W onder-W orker of Padua

Francis he felt that he could make
no error; and that it was the provi-
dence of God alone that had recalled
him from Africa, shipwrecked him
upon the Sicilian coast, and was
now about to bring him into the
presence of the seraphic Father
whose child he had become.

Having celebrated the Easter fes-
tivities at Messina, Anthony, accom-
panied by Filippo and the Sicilian
frati, set forth on his pilgrimage to
Assisi.

The Wonder- Worker of Padua 31

VI.

ANTHONY AND ST. FRANCIS.

THE fourth general chapter of the
Franciscan Order opened at Porti-
uncula on May 30, 1221. This
chapter was a marvellous manifes-
tation of the influence exercised by
St. Francis over his followers. It
was an all-powerful influence, and
it was ever increasing; time alone
was necessary to enable it to expand
and spread unto the very ends of
the earth.

St. Francis, a year previous, had
resigned his office of Minister-Gen-
eral. He had, in a certain sense,
completed his mission. His Order
was well established, was in the
most flourishing condition; recruits
were constantly approaching him,
and at his feet offering the labor
of their lives. His wish was law:

J2 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

no one questioned it. His will was
their wisdom, his word was final.
This stupendous organization, the
inspiration and the accomplishment
of one mind, had yet a price to be
paid for it, and a high price it proved
to be: it was no less than the life
of the holy founder.

Hoping to find a little much-
needed rest, St. Francis shifted the
burden of responsibility upon the
shoulders of Peter of Catania; but
the death of Peter within the year
compelled the enfeebled Francis once
more to assume the reins of govern-
ment. He conferred upon Brother
Elias the office of Vicar-General,
and thus Brother Elias became the
mouthpiece of the founder. He
was literally a mouthpiece; for,
owing to his physical debility, the
voice of the Saint could scarcely
be raised above a whisper. The
voice of Elias was indeed as the
voice of Francis, and was listened
to by all in unquestioning silence
and obedience.

The W onder-W orker of Padua 33

This is what Anthony beheld as
he stood in the multitude assembled
at Portiuncula: more than two
thousand friars gathered together
from every part of Europe. They
were presided over by Cardinal Ra-
nerio Capaccio; but St. Francis
was the magnet that drew them
thither, the power that swayed them
as one man, whose burning and
sole desire was to do the will of
their seraphic Father.

As the fruit of his husbandry,
Francis could proudly point to Sil-
vester the contemplative; Giles the
ecstatic: Thomas of Celano, the
noble singer of the Stabat Mater;
John of Piana; Carpino, and many
another, all these bearing the
marks of suffering, but all brave
and steadfast warriors for the faith.
Here they were, bowing at the knee
of the patriarch, humbly waiting
his will. And he, pale and ema-
ciated, sinking under a prostration
that threatened to terminate his
life at any moment, the patron of

34 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

humility and zeal and love, when
he, in a faint whisper, proposed a
mission to Germany, eighty friars
sprang to their feet and shouted
with enthusiasm that they were
ready to do his will there as any-
where and everywhere.

Unnoticed in this great throng,
ravished by the spectacle of the
Saint and his disciples, trembling
with profound emotion, and faint
for the fire of love that was consum-
ing him, stood a youth of six and
twenty, who was one day to become
the most famous of the followers of
St. Francis. Yet not one eye was
turned upon him in kindness or in
curiosity; not one word was spoken
to him: he was utterly unnoticed
and ignored.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 35

VII.
ANTHONY DESPISED AND REJECTED.

ST. FRANCIS was wont to read the
hearts and the consciences of his
children, a gift that must have
aided him often in their wise direc-
tion. Were it not evidently pre-
destined, it would be surprising that
the Saint did not recognize in the
youthful Anthony one who was anon
to be all in all to him and to his
holy Order. There he was, this
giant in embryo, in the prime of
life, singularly attractive to the eye,
of fascinating manners, radiant with
divine love, virtuous, valiant, face
to face with the one who was most to
influence him in life and he was
suffered to pass by unnoticed.

One thought was now uttermost
in Anthony's mind. He could not
again return to Portugal, that
would seem like a step backward

j6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

and a sign of failure. He must
abide near St. Francis. He felt
that he could no longer live happily
and holily apart from the seraphic
one, who so powerfully influenced
all those who were attracted to
him. For this reason he offered him-
self to the Provincials and Guardians
of Italy. St. Francis, hearing of
this, highly approved of the youth's
renunciation of his family, his friends
and his country; and recommended
him to those who were in need of
an assistant.

His services were declined by all;
he was not welcome and not wanted.
In a great measure, he was himself
the cause of his unsuccess; yet the
wisdom or the unwisdom of his
motive can no longer be questioned
when we take into consideration the
natural consequences thereof.

With no affectation of humility,
the young friar kept secret all
knowledge of his past. He assumed
an air that bordered on stupidity.
It is hardly surprising that he was

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 37

looked upon with disapproval by
the masters of novices, who were
accustomed critically to inspect such
candidates as offered themselves
from time to time at the novitiate.
They did not for a moment suspect
that he had talents and learning of
of no mean order.

He proffered his services as assist-
ant in the kitchen; he volunteered
to sweep the house well; he asked
nothing more than to be allowed
to do this for the love of God.
Even here his hopes were for a
season thwarted. His slight figure
had not yet rounded after the
ravages of fever; his face, naturally
one of the most beautiful among
men, was still drawn and pale. He
did not look equal to the calls upon
the convent drudge, and was un-
ceremoniously dismissed. His early
biographer, John Peckham, observes :
"No Provincial thought of asking
for him." He was deemed unfit for
service of any kind.

His case was beginning to grow

38 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

desperate. What could he hope to
do for the greater glory of God and
the love of his fellowmen? Would
no one take pity on him? Would
no one give him some duty to per-
form? In his extremity he drew
Father Gratian, the Provincial of
Bologna, aside and implored his
aid. It chanced that Father Gratian
was in need of a priest to say Mass
at a small hospice, where six lay-
brothers formed the community.
"Are you a priest?" asked Father
Gratian of the unpromising youth.
"I am," replied Anthony.

This seemed like a sad awakening
from his dreams of the future. Not
Africa, not martyrdom, apparently
not Italy, could he claim for his
portion; but Father Gratian, who
must send a priest to the lay-
brothers in their retreat, found him
sufficient in an extremity ; and there-
upon he was ordered away into
the mountains to say Mass for the
recluses in a very little house hidden
in a lonely place.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 39

VIII.

ANTHONY THE CONTEMPLATIVE.

FROM the very foundation of the
Order, the Franciscans have pos-
sessed two kinds of holy houses.
There were the large convents, usu-
ally erected in cities or their suburbs,
where the friars diligently attended
the many calls upon their time,
sympathy and strength; and there
were small convents, or hermitages,
often hidden away in the fastnesses
of the mountains or the forest.

One of these minor houses was
situated not far from Forli, upon
the slopes of the Apennines. In
all Tuscany there was not a more
secluded spot. Monte Paolo was an
ideal home for Anthony. Separated
from the outer world by a far-
spreading wood; walled in by rocky

40 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

heights, where only the birds nested
and the wild goat climbed; visited
by heaven-sent zephyrs; nourished
by the uncultivated fruits which
nature so lavishly contributed; re-
freshed by a delicious spring of
crystal purity, that sweet solitude
seemed indeed to the ill-judged
and disappointed friar an earthly
paradise.

Here Anthony said Mass daily
for the little company of brethren;
here he begged leave to assist them
in their labors, counting it a priv-
ilege so to do. They allotted him
his task, and he cheerfully accepted
and performed it. They had not
yet discovered that he was a man
far their superior in all respects;
for he became one with them one
with them in spirit and in truth,
but he was the holiest of them all.

Within the grounds of the her-
mitage at Monte Paolo was secreted
a deep grotto ; and within the grotto
a cell had been hewn out of the
rock, and here Anthony found his

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 41

perfect joy. One of the brethren
had long used this cell as a storehouse
for his tools, but he willingly sur-
rendered it to Anthony when the
latter ventured to ask if he might
have the use of it; and there the
friar passed most of his time.

Nearly a year Anthony passed in
the wilderness. His bed was straw;
his pillow a stone; his food and
drink a little bread and water. He
mortified himself by fasting, took
the discipline, and gladly endured
other austerities and voluntary pains.

During most of that year, so far
as the Rule of the Order and the
spirit of obedience permitted, he
dwelt alone in his hollow rock.
His time he passed in study, med-
itation, and ever-ardent prayer. He
translated the Psalms of David, en-
riching them with notes and com-
mentaries suitable for the use of
preachers. Wittingly or unwittingly,
he was preparing himself for a fresh
field of labor; and perhaps nowhere
else, outside of the desert itself,

4-2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

could he have found so suitable a
time and place for just such
preparation.

From a cavern came St. Francis,
St. Bernard, St. Norbert, and St.
Benedict; it was fitting that he who
was to become a saint as great,
powerful and glorious as these should
come also from a cavern. The
Hermitage of Monte Paolo has been
by old chroniclers compared to the
cells of the solitaries of the Thebaid.
Not a trace of the building itself
remains, and more's the pity! In
1629 Signor Paganelli erected an
oratory near the grotto consecrated
by the prayers and penances of
Anthony, in gratitude for a miracu-
lous recovery from illness obtained
through his intercession.

Emmanuel Azevedo, one of An-
thony's biographers, upon visiting
the spot, found, about half-way up
the mountain, a limpid spring that
was never known to become turbid,
even in the time of rains, when all
the neighboring springs were thick

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 43

with mud. He was assured, not
only by the peasants whose love for
the Saint may have made them too
credulous, but by resident priests-
it was also the testimony of distin-
guished travellers, that on Monte
Paolo (better known as St. Anthony's
Mountain), during the most violent
tempests, when the neighboring
heights were swept by furious winds
and lashing rains, a calm as of a
summer twilight prevailed; and that
persons overtaken by the storm
hastened to reach the favored spot,
knowing full well that there they
would be safe from harm lapped
in an atmosphere as serene as the
soul of the Saint.

44 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

IX.

ANTHONY THE) PREACHER.

FOR a little time only was Anthony
permitted to remain in comfortable
and peaceful obscurity. Solitude
and silence he always loved; but,
alas! he was no longer to enjoy
them uninterruptedly. In Ember
week March 19, 1222, according
to the historian Azzoguidi the cer-
emony of ordination called to Forli
a number of religious, both Friars
Minor and Friar Preachers, who were
to receive Holy Orders. Father
Gratian and Anthony were also
present, but neither in the least
suspected the surprise that was in
store for all.

Father Gratian, who had not failed
to note the edifying fervor of the
young priest, as well as the gleams

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 45

of uncommon intelligence which An-
thony was not always able to dis-
guise, was glad to have this oppor-
tunity of calling the hermit to Monte
Paolo from his vigils to attend the
functions at Forli. Father Gratian
had been requested by the bishop
of the province to deliver to the
candidates for ordination the cus-
tomary address on the sublimity of
the priestly office. This honor he
courteously offered to the sons of
St. Benedict many of whom were
present; but they, being unpre-
pared, refused to speak on so solemn
an occasion. It began to look as
if the ceremonies were likely to be
interrupted.

Suddenly, as if by intuition,
Father Gratian turned to Anthony
and desired him to exhort the can-
didates. The simplicity and beauty
of his language and the grace of his
manner were greatly in his favor;
but he had never yet spoken in
public, and since he had become a
Friar Minor he had opened no book

4<5 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

save only his breviary and the
Psalms. Therefore he modestly
pleaded his inexperience and his
inability; he confessed that he was
fitter to serve in the refectory than
to preach to the learned who were
present. He was covered with con-
fusion, and heartily wished himself
back again in his grotto at Monte
Paolo. The superior was inflexible;
and, rejecting all excuses, he directed
Anthony to preach out of obedience,
and gave him for a text: "Christ
became for us obedient unto death,
even the death of the Cross."

The young priest arose, trembling
with humility; in a low voice, the
beauty of which had been often
commented upon, he addressed the
Franciscans and Dominicans, who
were filled with curiosity and ex-
pectation. As he proceeded, his
voice gathered volume and his speech
fire; his cheek flushed with fervor;
his body swayed as a reed in the
wind; his wrapped gaze seemed
fixed upon a heaven invisible to

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 47

others, and he spoke as one divinely
inspired. His hour of triumph had
come at last, unsought and uninvited.

Is it any wonder that all present
were astonished beyond measure,
and that they looked upon this
maiden effort of the novice as little
short of miraculous? It is true that
his whole life had been a kind of
preparation for the pulpit, but an
involuntary and unconscious one.
His range of experience had been
large; every emotion of the heart
he had sounded to its depths; in
his solitary hours of abstraction he
had, in spirit, again and again
communed with the martyrs of Mo-
rocco and the Canons Regular of
Coimbra. He was storm-tossed in
the Mediterranean ; prostrated upon
a bed of pain in Africa; an obscure
and unobserved pilgrim at Assisi;
an humble servitor and solitary at
Monte Paolo.

Now all returned to him like a
flash in brilliant and luminous retro-
spection; and with all else came

48 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

knowledge a revival of knowl-
edge, his knowledge of the Holy
Scriptures and of the consecrated
writings of the Fathers, together
with his own voluminous comments
thereon, and a world of wisdom
withal, of wisdom not of this world
only.

In a torrent of eloquence that
thrilled and amazed his listeners,
he developed his discourse with the
skill of a logician, the art of an
orator, the charm of one predes-
tined to the pulpit; and brought
his last period to a conclusion amidst
a chorus of enthusiastic approba-
tion. On the instant he found him-
self conspicuous in a life of public-
ity, the life he had sought in vain
to fly from. Now, in deed and in
very truth, his inner life was ended:
he was henceforth to be known as
Anthony the Preacher.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 49

X.

ANTHONY THE LECTOR.

THE Provincial of Romagna, who
was present when Anthony delivered
his first sermon, at once appointed
the young apostle a preacher in his
province; and St. Francis, hearing
of the extraordinary effect produced
by the sermon, not only confirmed
the Provincial's appointment, but
greatly enlarged Anthony's sphere
of usefulness by giving him leave
to preach anywhere and everywhere,
whenever an opportunity offered.
And yet to preach only was not his
mission.

St. Francis desired that Anthony
should apply himself to the study
of theology, in order that he might
speak with more confidence and
authority, and likewise be able to

50 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

instruct other of his brethren.
Neither St. Francis nor any one
else was aware of the nature and
extent of Anthony's learning; and
he was therefore sent to Vercelli to
study theology in the Monastery
of St. Andrew, of the Canons Reg-
ular, then under the discipline of
Abbot Thomas, the greatest living
doctor in all Italy. Thomas was
one of the Canons Regular whom
Mgr. Sessa, Bishop of Vercelli, had
called from the Monastery of St.
Vincent of Paris to that of St.
Andrew of Vercelli, on account of
their many virtues and accomplish-
ments.

We may readily imagine the rapid
progress so holy a religious as An-
thony must have made at St.
Andrew's, he who had already en-
joyed the hidden treasures of Heaven.
A companion in his studies was
Adam de Marisco, of Somerset, dio-
cese of Bath, England; afterward
Doctor of the University of Oxford,
and finally Bishop of Ely, a man

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 51

famous for piety and learning. These
young men were received by Abbot
Thomas with the utmost tenderness,
and in them he found pupils de-
voted to their studies, of intense
application and surpassing intelli-
gence. Anthony was still living
under the rule of his Order; for
St. Francis had obtained from the
Bishop of Vercelli a convent situated
near the ancient Church of St.
Matthew; and here he dwelt, going
at appointed hours to class at St.
Andrew's.

Franciscan historians assure us
that, though Anthony applied him-
self most diligently to his studies,
he did not fail to preach the Lenten
sermons in Milan and other places
near at hand; and that on these
occasions his lucid exposition of the
Scriptures astonished and delighted
his hearers. Even in the classroom
he was a marvel. One of his teachers
says that while explaining to his
pupils a work on the ''Celestial
Hierarchy," Anthony spoke concern-

$2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

ing the different orders of celestial
spirits with great precision and won-
derful intelligence; and it seemed
to all who heard him as if he were
in the very presence of that hierarchy.

So rapid was Anthony's progress
in his studies, so comprehensive his
grasp, and so felicitous his treat-
ment of every theme under con-
sideration, that his classmates with
one accord urgently begged that he
would impart to them something of
the knowledge that seemed his birth-
right. He hesitated; they persist-
ently implored. Anthony knew that
the rule of the Order was founded
upon poverty, humility, the scorn
of all things worldly; and he feared
that a show of learning might be
considered scandalous rather than
edifying. Holiness and humility
come first of all; science and the
polite accomplishments should follow
in their course.

That he might observe to the
letter the holy rule and give no
cause for scandal, Anthony wrote

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 55

to St. Francis asking his will in the
matter. Now, there is not the
shadow of a doubt that St. Francis
had the good the best good of the
Order at heart; that for this reason
he desired gradually to work certain
reforms; that he feared a tendency
on the part of his followers to an
over-interest in the affairs of this
life to the neglect of those of the
life which is to come. So he wrote
to Anthony. The letter has for-
tunately been preserved in "The
Chronicles of the Twenty-Four Gen-
erals." It runs as follows:

"To his dear Brother Anthony,
Brother Francis sends greeting in
the Lord.

"It is my wish that thou teach
the brethren sacred theology; yet
in such a manner as not to extin-
guish in thyself and others the
spirit of prayer and devotion, accord-
ing as it is prescribed in the rule.

: 'The Lord spare thee!

"BROTHER FRANCIS."

Thus was Anthony chosen by the

54 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

patriarch of Assisi to depart into
Bologna and there assume the office
of Lector of Theology. Unhappily,
no notes of his lectures then and
there delivered have been preserved
to us; but from his "Commentary
on the Psalms" we can judge of
the spirit that pervaded them. Be-
cause of the nature of this spirit
there have been those of his brother-
hood who have assured themselves
that Anthony was the author of
"The Imitation of Christ." The
authorship of that inspiring work
has long been a vexed question;
but Francis Richard Cruise, M. D.,
in his ingenious and exhaustive work
on "Thomas a Kempis,"* seems to
have finally settled it.

In his lectures Anthony avoided
dry speculation; he brought youth-
ful enthusiasm, coupled with the
purest and loftiest mysticism, to
bear upon the minds and hearts of
his pupils. "To know, to love!"
this was his teaching. To know, so

*~~London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1887.

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 55

that one may love highly and holily ;
to love, so that one may acquire
the knowledge that is born of ardor,
devotion, self-sacrifice, singleness of
purpose the flower and the fruit
of love.

56 The W onder-W orker of Padua

XL

ANTHONY THE FATHER OF MYSTIC
THEOLOGY.

ST. FRANCIS was the inspirer and
St. Bonaventure the most illustrious
representative of the mystic school
of theology; but Thomas Gallo,
Pope Gregory IX., and St. Bona-
venture himself, have styled An-
thony the father of the school.

Many were the titles conferred
upon the inspired gospeller. Cardi-
nal Guy de Montfort, being danger-
ously ill, was miraculously healed
through the intercession of St. An-
thony; and he therefore made a
pilgrimage to the tomb of the Saint
at Padua, and left at that shrine
a splendid reliquary, embellished
with verses wherein the Saint is
hailed as the "star of Spain, pearl
of poverty, father of science, model

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 57

of purity, light of Italy, doctor of
divine truth, and glory of Padua."
This father of mystic theology
and founder of the mystic school
of the Middle Ages was from the
very beginning a wonder-worker.
His preaching was nearly always
confirmed by miracles; the very
sermon itself was in some senses
miraculous. He must have pos-
sessed the gift of tongues. While
in Italy he preached in Italian; yet
all the knowledge he possessed of
that mellifluous tongue he got during
his brief intercourse with the six
illiterate lay-brothers at the hos-
pice in the solitude of Monte Paolo.
While in France he preached in
French, though he had never studied
the language. Perhaps more remark-
able still is the fact that the simple-
minded and the most ignorant lis-
teners were capable of fully compre-
hending all he said; and his voice ,
though gentle and sweet, was dis-
tinctly heard at a very extraordinary
distance from the speaker.

5# The Wonder -Worker of Padua

In that charming volume, "The
Little Flowers of St. Francis," it is
quaintly recorded: "That marvel-
lous vessel of the Holy Ghost, St.
Anthony of Padua, one of the
chosen disciples and companions of
St. Francis, who was called of St.
Francis his Vicar, once preached in
the Consistory before the Pope and
his Cardinals; in which Consistory
there were men of divers nations
namely, Greeks, Latins, French,
Germans, Slavs, and English, and
men speaking other divers tongues.
Fired by the Holy Ghost, so effica-
ciously, so devoutly, so subtly, so
sweetly, so clearly, and so plainly,
did Anthony set forth the word of
God, that all they which were
present at the Consistory, of what-
soever divers tongues they were,
clearly understood all his words
distinctly, even as he had spoken
in the language of each man among
them. And they all were struck
dumb with amaze; and it seemed
as if that ancient miracle of the

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 59

Apostles had been renewed, when at
the time of the Pentecost they spoke
by virtue of the Holy Ghost in every
tongue. And they said one to
another, with admiration and awe:
'Is not he who preaches come out
of Spain? And how do we hear in
his discourse every man of us the
speech of his own land?' Likewise
the Pope, considering and marvel-
ling at the profundity of his words,
said: 'Verily, this man is the Ark
of the Covenant and the vehicle
of the Holy Ghost/'

Anthony appeared in a most
opportune moment. The Church
was sorely in need of him. St.
Dominic had gone to his reward;
the labors of St. Francis were at
an end: he could only guide and
encourage by his advice and his
approval; and, at intervals, instil
new life into his children and confer
a benediction upon them by appear-
ing, if but for a moment, in their
midst. The honor and the glory
that had been shared by St. Francis

60 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

and St. Dominic were his now; for
to Anthony fell the lot of continuing
the work of these two illustrious
patriarchs.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 61

XII.

ANTHONY THE HAMMER OF HERETICS.

WHEN Anthony girded on his
armor and went forth to fight the
good fight, the affairs of Europe,
especially the religious affairs, were
in a sad state. Heresy was rife.
These heretics, known as Partorini,
Cathari, Waldenses, Albigenses, and
others almost too numerous to
mention, were more or less united
in an attempted revival of Maniche-
ism; for the most part they taught
the eternal existence of the principal
of evil, denied the responsibility of
the rational creature, recognized
fatalism, and advocated the right
of rebellion.

The secret societies, wherein the
Jew was a rank element, had for
their maxim: Jura, per jura, secre-
tum pander e noli. " Swear and for-

62 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

swear thyself, provided thou keep
the secret." Their cry was: "Down
with the Pope! Death to the Cath-
olic Church!"

That was a sorry time. In his
"History of France," Michelet says:
"This Judea of France, as Lan-
guedoc has been called, was not
only remarkable, like ancient Judea,
for its bituminous pits and olive
groves: it also had its Sodoms and
Gomorrahs."

"Italy," says the old Franciscan
chronicle, "was all overturned and
filled with confusion by all the other
nations, who came in to blooden
their barbarous swords in her body;
invited so to do by the Italians
themselves, who called them in to
take part in their intestine feuds,
and who were all to be in the event
their prey as it turned out. And
thus very soon there not only failed
among them those sweet manners
which used to make the Italians
like to angels on earth, and placed
them above all nations in courtesy

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 63

and charity; but there died away
also in them that blessed faith, for
the love of which they had re-
nounced the empire of the world,
placing their necks under the most
sweet yoke of Christ and of His
Holy Roman Catholic Church. And
as it happens so often that people
take their customs from the com-
pany they keep, even the Italians
drank of that horrible chalice of
heresy and abomination; and, owing
to license of life, which was then
at its highest point, heretics began
to multiply in that land."

Anthony seemed to have been
singled out by Divine Providence
to combat the prevailing evils of
his time; to have had all his own
sweet dreams, high hopes, and noble
aspirations thwarted; to have been
kept in the background, a silent,
unknown man, until the moment
when he was called to the front, to
battle and to victory; for he
achieved what perhaps he alone of
all men could have achieved a

6 4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

glorious and triumphant victory.
How well he knew the nature and
the requirements of his sacred office !
He said:

"It behooves a preacher to lead
on earth a heavenly life, in keeping
with the truths he is charged to
announce to the people. His con-
versation should only be concerning
holy things ; and his endeavors must
tend to but one end the salvation
of souls. It is his duty to raise up
the fallen, to console them that
weep, to distribute the treasures
of divine grace as the clouds send
down their refreshing showers. And
all this must he do with perfect
humility and absolute disinterested-
ness. Prayer must be his chief
delight; and the remembrance of
the bitter Passion of Christ must
ever accompany him, whether in
joy or adversity. If he acts in this
wise, the word of God, the word of
peace and life, of grace and truth,
will descend upon and flood him
with its dazzling light."

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 65

He not only preached, he prac-
tised what he preached. The serenity
and beauty of his countenance, the
gentleness and meekness of his de-
meanor, were an example a living
and a lasting sermon unto all.
Having once asked one of the
brethren to go with him while he
preached, the two went forth, and
by and by returned, Anthony not
having uttered a word during all
the time. The Brother, turning to
him, said:. "Why have you not
preached ? ' ' And Anthony answered :
u We have preached: our modest
looks and the gravity of our behavior
are as a sermon unto those who
have followed us with their eyes."

He was absolutely without fear,
and proved it on many occasions.
Ezzelino of Treviso, having placed
himself at the head of a party of
Ghibellines, made himself master of
Verona, Padua, and indeed most
of the cities in Lombardy. For
forty years this tyrant ruled there,
and his bloody and horrible reign

66 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

terrorized the people. He defied
the anathemas of Popes Gregory
IX., Innocent IV., and Alexander
IV. Hearing that the long-suffering
Paduans had revolted, he put to
death in one day twelve thousand of
the citizens.

Ezzelino lived at Verona. The
horror of his presence had caused
the Veronese to fly, and the city
was nearly depopulated. Armed
guards, as savage as their master,
patrolled the almost deserted streets.
Anthony, going alone to Verona,
sought audience of this monster.
He entered the palace of Ezzelino
and was conducted to the audience-
chamber, where sat the bloodthirsty
one upon a throne surrounded by
his murderous troops. At a word
from Ezzelino these human tigers
would have fallen upon the defence-
less Anthony and rent him limb
from limb.

Anthony, undismayed, at once
addressed the tyrant; assuring him
that his plunderings, his sacrileges,

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 67

were as a myriad tongues crying to
Heaven for vengeance; and that
his innumerable victims were living
witnesses before God against him.
The ferocious guards stood ready
to spring upon the accuser; they
awaited only the word. What was
their astonishment when they saw
merciless Ezzelino, pale and trem-
bling, descending from his throne,
and, putting a girdle about his neck
for a halter, prostrating himself at
the feet of Anthony, tearfully im-
ploring him to intercede with God
for the pardon of his sins!

When Anthony had departed,
turning to his soldiers, Ezzelino
said: "Be not astonished at my
sudden change. I will tell you the
truth. While Anthony was reproach-
ing me I saw in his countenance a
divine splendor; and I was so ter-
rified that, if I had dared to take
vengeance, I believe that I would
have been suddenly carried off by
demons and cast into hell."

Some time afterward Ezzelino,.

68 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

wishing to test Anthony and see if
he were really more than human,
sent him a costly gift. The gift-
bearers were cautioned to press the
treasure upon Anthony; but if he
accepted it, they were to slay him
at once; if he declined it, they were
to come away and use no violence.
These orders were obeyed. Bowing
before the friar, they said: "Your
faithful son Ezzelino has sent us to
you. He earnestly recommends him-
self to your prayers, and beseeches
you to accept this gift we offer
you."

Anthony of course declined it,
and begged that they would return
to their master and say to him that
it was God's wish that he should
restore unto the impoverished whom
he had laid waste, all that he had
cruelly wrested from them; and
that he should make this reparation
before it was too late. With shame,
they withdrew from the presence of
the friar; and when they had re-
ported to Ezzelino all that had

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 69

passed between them, he replied,
thoughtfully: "It is well. This is
truly a man of God. Leave him in
peace. I care not what he says of
me."

For a considerable period after
this Ezzelino showed a disposition
to mend his ways: he was less
cruel, less bloodthirsty, a little more
considerate of the rights and the
feelings of his subjects. But after
the death of Anthony he relapsed
into his former mood, was in 1259
taken prisoner by the Confederate
princes of Lombardy, and perished
miserably in close confinement.

Anthony's success as a preacher
was phenomenal and unparalleled.
That fine old chronicler, John Peck-
ham, says of it:

"From all parts of the city and its
neighboring villages people flocked
in crowds to hear the sermons of the
great Franciscan. The law courts
were closed, business was suspended,
labor interrupted. All life and move-
ment were concentrated at one

70 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

point the sermons and instructions
of the mighty wonder-worker. Soon
the churches could not contain the
audiences: he had to preach in
the open air. The plant, dried up by
the heat of the sun, thirsts for the
dew of the early morn; more lively
and impatient was the desire of the
Paduans for the coming dawn and
the hour for which the conferences
were announced. From midnight
the city was in motion. Knights
and great ladies, preceded by lighted
torches, pressed round the tempo-
rary pulpit. A motley multitude
covered the plain; while the bishop,
accompanied by his clergy, presided
at the services. The numbers often
reached thirty thousand.

"At the hour fixed Anthony would
appear, in outward demeanor modest
and recollect ive, his heart burning
with love. All eyes were fixed upon
him; and when he began to speak,
the crowds, hushed into silence,
listened to his words with an im-
movable attention. At the conclu-

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 77

sion of the discourse the enthusiasm
of his hearers could not be contained :
it burst forth in sobs, shouts of
joy or applause, according to its
effect upon each listener. The crowd
would rush upon the Saint. Each
one wished to see him closer, to
kiss the hem of his habit, or his
crucifix; some even went so far
as to cut bits of cloth from his
habit, to keep as relics. A body-
guard of young men kept near him,
to prevent his being crushed by
his admirers.

"But the most admirable effects
he achieved were the following:
Enmities were appeased, and con-
tending families publicly reconciled;
usurers and thieves made restitu-
tion of their ill-gotten goods; great
sinners struck their breasts in humble
repentance; abandoned women fled
from the haunts of vice and gave
themselves up to penance. The con-
fessionals were besieged; vice dis-
appeared, virtue revived ; and within
the space of a month the aspect

f2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

of the ancient city [of Padua] was
transformed."

Having entered the campaign,
which proved a veritable holy war,
within three months he became
known to all as Anthony the Ham-
mer of Heretics.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 73

XIII.

ANTHONY'S SERMON ON THE MONAS-
TIC

THE secret of Anthony's marvellous
success we do not know; one may
have thought it his voice, another
his manner, and yet another his
beautiful countenance. His piety,
his fervor, his persuasive eloquence
were all important aids; yet, per-
haps, these alone might not have
swayed the masses as he swayed
them. He was master of the situ-
ation: alone, unrivalled in a word,
he was altogether irresistible.

It is a marvel that we know so
little of one so great. One of the
most conspicuous figures of his time,
he is yet but as a shadow in the
history of that time or, rather, as
a bright and shining light; illusive,

74 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

like a Will-o'-the-wisp; startling
and evasive, like the meteor. The
truth is, he was not of this world.

The details of his life are scanty.
Some one in the fourteenth century
cried out, almost in despair: "We
know not half of the beautiful actions
of our hero! Most of them have
been allowed to fall into oblivion,
either by reason of the deplorable
carelessness of his first biographers
or through lack of authentic docu-
ments. " This is the more surprising
when w^e find the little testimony
that is preserved to us aglow with
almost boundless enthusiasm. In
the Lucerne manuscript, "St. An-
toine," Pere Hilaire observes:

"His soul was like a fair garden
fertilized by the showers of divine
grace, where bloomed the sweetest
flowers of Heaven, spreading around
their fragrant odor. These flowers
were meekness and humility, poverty
and penance, fervor and zeal, wis-
dom and prudence. Beyond all
praise were his eloquence, the grace-

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 75

fulness of his manners, his nobility
of character, his gentleness and kind-
ness. Whether in the pulpit or the
confessional, with the clergy or laity,
he everywhere and at all times
evinced that spirit of prudence which
gives the golden mean to all the
virtues, and exhibited that utter
forgetfulness of self which won him
the love of all. In a word, he was
indeed the beloved of God and men."
When Anthony went to Limoges,
in 1226, he preached in the cemetery
of St. Paul's Church, probably on
All Souls' Day. A Benedictine
writer has preserved the beautiful
text, which was taken from the
sixth verse of Psalm xxix: "In the
evening weeping shall have place,
and in the morning gladness." A
brief exposition of the text has been
found among his notes most likely
a synopsis of this sermon. "There
is a threefold evening and a three-
fold morning," he says; "a three-
fold weeping and a threefold glad-
ness. The threefold evening is, first,

7 6 The Wonder- Worker of Padua

the sad evening of the fall of our
first parents in Paradise; second,
the sad evening of the passion and
death of our Redeemer; and third,
the sad evening of our own fast-
approaching death. The threefold
morning is, first, the glad morning
of the birth of the Messias; second,
the glad morning of the Lord's
Resurrection; and third, the glad
morning of our own future resurrec-
tion." Conceive what an effect this
sermon must have produced as it
fell from those inspired lips upon
the ears of the mourners among the
graves !

On the day following his address
in the cemetery, Anthony preached
in a Franciscan abbey, not far from
the Church of St. Paul; and his
notes of this sermon on the monastic
life, happily preserved to us, are
so full we gain from them a pretty
clear idea of his treatment of a
theme. On the text, "Who will
give me wings like a dove, and I
will fly and be at rest?" he says:

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 77

"Such is the cry of a soul that is
weary of this world and longs for
the solitude and peace of the cloister
life. It was of the religious life
that Jeremias spoke when he said:
'Leave the cities, and dwell in the
rock, you that dwell in Moab; and
be ye like the dove that maketh her
nest in the mouth of the hole in the
highest place.' 'Leave the cities'
the sins and vices which dishonor,
the tumult which prevents the soul
from rising to God, and often even
from thinking of Him. 'Leave the
cities' ; for it is written : ' I have seen
iniquity and contradiction in the
city. Day and night shall iniquity
surround it upon its walls; and in
the midst thereof are labor and
injustice. And usury and deceits
have not departed from its streets/
There is to be found iniquity against
God and man ; contradiction against
the preacher of truth; labor in the
ambitious cares of the world, in-
justice in its dealings, knavery and
usury in its business transactions.

7 '8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

'Ye that dwell in Moab/ that is,
in the world, which is seated in
pride as the city of Moab. All is
pride in the world, pride of the
intellect, which refuses to humble
itself before God; pride of the will,
which refuses to submit to the will
of God; pride of the senses, which
rebel against reason and dominate
it. ...

"But to leave the world, to live
remote from the tumult of cities,
to keep one's self unspotted from
their vices, is not sufficient for the
religious soul. Hence the prophet
adds: 'Dwell in the rock.' Now,
this rock is Jesus Christ. Establish
yourself in Him; let Him be the
constant theme of your thoughts,
the object of your affections. Jacob
reposed upon a stone in the wilder-
ness; and while he slept he saw
the heavens opened, and conversed
with angels, receiving a blessing
from the Lord. Thus will it be
with those who place their entire
trust in Jesus Christ. They will be

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 79

favored with heavenly visions; they
will live in the company of angels;
they will be blessed as Jacob was,
4 to the north and south, to the
east and west/ To the north, which
is the divine breath mortifying the
flesh and its concupiscences; to the
east, which is the light of faith and
the merit of good works; to the
south, which is the full meridian
splendor of wisdom and charity; to
the west, which is the burial of
the old man with his vices. But as
to the soul which does not repose
upon this rock, it can not expect
to be blessed by the Lord.

"'And be ye like the dove that
maketh her nest in the mouth of
the hole in the highest place/ If
Jesus Christ is the rock, the hole of
the rock, in which the religious soul
is to seek shelter and take up her
abode, is the wound in the side of
Jesus Christ. This is the safe harbor
of refuge to which the Divine Spouse
calls the religious soul when He
speaks to her in the words of the

8o The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Canticle : 'Arise, my love, my beauti-
ful one, and come! . . . My dove in
the clifts of the rock, in the hollow
places of the wall/ The Divine
Spouse speaks of the numberless
clifts of the rock, but He also speaks
of the deep hollow. There were
indeed in His Body numberless
wounds and one deep wound in
His side; this leads to His Heart,
and it is hither He calls the soul
He has espoused. To her He extends
His arms; to her He opens wide
His sacred side and Divine Heart,
that she may come and hide therein.
"By retiring into the clifts of
the rock, the dove is safe from the
pursuit of the birds of prey; and
at the same time she prepares for
herself a quiet refuge, where she
may calmly repose and coo in peace.
So the religious soul finds in the
Heart of Jesus a secure refuge
against the wiles and attacks of
Satan, and a delightful retreat. But
we must not rest merely at the
entrance to the hole in the rock:

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 81

we must penetrate its depths. At
the mouth of the deep hollow at
the mouth of the wound in His
side we shall indeed find the
Precious Blood which has redeemed
us. This Blood pleads for us and
demands mercy for us. But the
religious soul must not stay at the
entrance. When she has heard and
understood the voice of the Divine
Blood, she must hasten to the very
source from which it springs into
the very innermost sanctuary of
the Heart of Jesus. There she will
find light, peace, and ineffable
consolations.

"'And be ye like the dove that
maketh her nest in the deep hollow
of the rock.' The dove builds her
nest with little pieces of straw she
gathers up here and there. How are
we to build up an abode in the
Heart of Jesus? This Divine Saviour,
who so mercifully gives us the place
wherein we are to make our abode,
furnishes us at the same time with
the materials wherewith to construct

82 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

it. O religious soul, dove beloved
of Christ, behold those little pieces
of straw which the world tramples
under its feet ! They are the virtues
practised by thy Saviour and thy
Spouse, of which He Himself has
set thee an example humility,
meekness, poverty, penance, patience,
and mortification. The world de-
spises them as useless pieces of
straw; nevertheless, they will be for
thee the material wherewith to con-
struct thy dwelling-place forever in
the profound hollow of the rock-
in the Heart of Jesus."

Thus Anthony preached to thou-
sands and tens of thousands. And
they followed him when he had
finished speaking ; for it seemed that
they could never have enough of
him. It was his custom to preface
his sermons with this prayer, which
he himself composed:

"O Light of the world, Infinite
God, Father of eternity, Giver of
wisdom and knowledge, and ineffable
Dispenser of every spiritual grace;

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 83

who knowest all things before they
are made, who makest the darkness
and the light: put forth Thy hand
and touch my mouth, and make it as
a sharp sword to utter eloquently
Thy words. Make my tongue, O
Lord! as a chosen arrow, to declare
faithfully Thy wonders. Put Thy
spirit, O Lord! in my heart, that I
may perceive; in my soul, that I
may retain; and in my conscience,
that I may meditate. Do Thou
lovingly, holily, mercifully, clem-
ently and gently inspire me with
Thy grace. Do Thou teach, guide
and strengthen the comings in and
goings out of my senses and my
thoughts. And let Thy discipline
instruct me even to the end, and
the counsel of the Most High help
me, through Thine infinite wisdom
and mercy. Amen."

So shone this light, with a glow
as of fire from heaven, in the so-
called Dark Ages.

8 '4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XIV.

ANTHONY THE WONDER-WORKER.

THAT miracles have occurred, and
are occurring even in our own day,
there is no shadow of doubt. What
is a miracle? According to Worcester
a miracle is "an effect of which the
antecedent can not be referred to
any secondary cause; an event or
occurrence which can not be ex-
plained by any known law of nature ;
a deviation from the established law
of nature ; something not only super-
human, but preternatural; a prod-
igy, a wonder, a marvel."

Thousands of eye-witnesses bore
testimony in their day to the wonders
worked by Anthony in France and
Italy. It would seem that his fame
must have preceded him, and that
wherever he went his approach must

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 6*5

have been heralded and his appear-
ance hailed with enthusiasm by
expectant and animated throngs.
This was not the case. Obedient
to the voice of his superiors, he went
wheresoever he was bidden; went
alone and unannounced; a stranger
in a strange land, unrecognized of
any until he had lifted that voice
whose persuasive eloquence no one
was long able to withstand. Then
came his triumph, complete and
overwhelming. Triumph followed
upon triumph, until at last the land
rang with his praises. On every
hand he gave abundant proof of
the divine power which he was
called upon to exercise. Following
in the footsteps of his Blessed Mas-
ter, he healed the sick, raised the
dead, and wakened the living to
life everlasting.

Preaching once upon a time in
the pulpit of the Church of St.
Eusebius in Vicelli a small Italian
city, then an independent republic,
like many another city of that

86 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

day, vast crowds pressed about
him. Suddenly a great commotion
arose. With difficulty a grief -stricken
family bore toward him the body
of one of their number, cut down
in the prime of life. A great wail
went up from the people. Anthony
paused in his discourse, profoundly
moved. Recollecting himself, he ex-
tended his hand toward the body
and cried: "In the name of Christ
I say unto you, young man, arise!"
And immediately the youth arose
from the dead, full of joy, restored
to health and to the arms of those
who had bewailed him.

Great is the number and the
variety of the wonders worked by
Anthony. Here are a few of them
taken at random from the pages
of his several chroniclers.

He was preaching in the cathedral
at Montpellier, in the presence of
the clergy and a vast multitude. It
was Easter Sunday. In the midst
of his discourse he suddenly remem-
bered that he had been appointed

The W onder-W orker of Padua 87

to sing at Solemn High Mass in
the choir of a neighboring convent
chapel. He had forgotten this; he
had even forgotten to find a sub-
stitute, and the hour of the Mass
was at hand. This seemed to him
an act of disobedience; and, in his
distress, he drew his cowl over his
face, sank back in the pulpit and
remained silent for a long time. The
people, in amazement, watched and
waited. At the moment when he
ceased speaking in the cathedral,
though all the while visible to the
congregation, he appeared in the
convent choir among his brethren
and sang his office. At the close
of the service he recovered himself
in the pulpit of the cathedral, and,
as his chronicler says, finished his
sermon "with incomparable elo-
quence."

Anthony had completed his ' ' Com-
mentary on the Psalms," the fruit
of long vigilance and profound med-
itation. A novice, weary of the
religious life and its ceaseless auster-

88 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

ities, resolved to return to the world,
and, coveting Anthony's precious
manuscript, he captured it and fled.
The young rascal could have had
no sense of humor, or he would
hardly have turned his back upon
the cloister and sought the mixed
society of the world, the flesh and
the devil with a stolen copy of a
"Commentary on the Psalms" as
his companion. Probably he hoped
to profit by it in a worldly way;
but in this he was strangely thwarted.
Upon discovering his loss, Anthony
had, as ever, recourse to prayer.
At that very moment the fleeing
youth was confronted by a monstrous
creature, that ordered him to return
at once to the abbey and restore
the " Commentary " to its author.
This he was now only too glad to
do. And the Saint, rejoiced at the
recovery of his manuscript, as well
as of the soul that was in peril,
received the novice with every mark
of affection. Nor was his loving-
kindness ill bestowed; for the lad

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 89

became one of the most favored of
the faithful.

As St. Francis hushed the carolling
birds in the Venetian lagoon, say-
ing, " Cease your singing a little
while until we have rendered to
God our homage of praise," so
Anthony rebuked the clamoring frogs
in a noisy pool at the Convent of
Montpellier, and they thereafter ob-
served a respectable silence at the
hours of prayer.

At Puy-en-Velay he converted a
notary of dissolute habits and violent
temper. When they met in the
streets Anthony would bow to the
notary, and the latter would fly
into a rage, believing that he was
in mockery. Still Anthony saluted
him reverently and more rever-
ently; whereupon the notary cried,
in a fury: "What does this mean?
But for fear of the anger of
God I would run you through
with my sword." Then Anthony
replied, with perfect composure : U O
my brother! you do not know the

po The Wonder -Worker of Padua

honor in store for you. I envy your
happiness. I longed for the martyr's
palm: the Lord denied it to me,
but He has revealed to me that
this grace is reserved for you. When
that blessed hour arrives, be mind-
ful, I beseech you, of him who
foretold it to you." And it came to
pass even as it had been predicted.

To a lady of rank who recom-
mended herself to his prayers, An-
thony said: "Be of good heart, my
daughter, and rejoice; for the Lord
will give you a son who, as a Friar
Minor and a martyr, will shed lustre
upon the Church." This prediction
was likewise fulfilled.

Many he delivered from sore temp-
tations, and they were never again
persecuted. To a poor sinner, over-
whelmed with sorrow, who could
find no voice with which to confess
himself, Anthony said: "Go write
down your sins, and bring me the
parchment." The penitent did as
he was bidden, returning with a
tear-stained scroll. As he read out

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 91

his sins one after the other, each
disappeared from the parchment;
and, having reached the last of
these, lo! the scroll was spotless.

At St. Junien, Anthony, who was
about to address the public, pre-
dicted that the platform which had
been erected for his use would
collapse, but that no one would be
injured. The fact was speedily
verified.

One day, preaching to a great
multitude in a large square in the
city of Limoges, France, a violent
storm gathered and filled the people
with terror. They began to disperse
in haste, when Anthony said : " Fear
not: the storm will pass you by."
So they remained; and, though the
city was deluged, not a drop of
rain fell in the square where Anthony
was preaching.

At Brive the Saint established a
little hermitage similar to the one
at Monte Paolo. Postulants joined
him, seeking solitude and poverty.
On one occasion, when they were

p2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

in distress, a much-needed alms
was sent them by a lady to whom
they had reluctantly applied for
aid. The lady's servant carried the
gift to them through a severe storm ;
yet going and coming the servant
walked dry-shod, and not one drop
of water from the pouring clouds
fell upon her.

One evening his companions at
the hospice saw a band of marauders
despoiling the field of one of the
benefactors of the little community,
and they hastened to complain to
Anthony. "Fear not," said he. " 'Tis
but an artifice of the Evil One to
distract you." On the morrow they
found that the field had been
untouched.

The Cathari of Rimini invited the
Saint to a feast of poisons. His
astounding success in bringing wan-
derers back to the fold filled them
with hatred of him. He knew at
once that a snare had been laid for
him by the Cathari, and denounced
them openly; thereupon they said

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 93

to him: "Either you believe the
words of the Gospel or you do not.
If you believe them, why hesitate
to eat? Is it not written, 'In My
name they shall cast out devils;
they shall handle serpents; and if
they shall drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them'? If you do
not believe the Gospel to be true,
why do you preach it? Take, there-
fore, and eat. If you go unhurt,
we swear to embrace the Catholic
faith." Blessing the viands, the
servant of God ate and was un-
harmed; and all those who beheld
the miracle returned into the fold.

Paralysis and epilepsy he cured
with the Sign of the Cross.

At Gemona, near Udine, where he
was erecting a small convent on the
model of the Portiuncula, he one
day hailed a peasant who was passing
with an ox team, and begged that
a load of bricks might be brought
him. The peasant, not knowing
who addressed him, and not caring
to be pressed into Anthony's service,

P4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

said: "I can not help you, for I
am carrying a corpse." The truth
is, the peasant's son lay sleeping
in the bottom of the cart. When
the peasant, a little later, attempted
to waken the boy so as to tell him
how he had fooled the friar, he
found that his son was dead. Then
he ran to Anthony and implored
him to restore the life of the boy;
and Anthony making the Sign of
the Cross over the body, the youth
arose and blessed him.

Often, under the influence of his
exhortations, penitents were moved
to tears and convulsive sobs. To
such he would say to quote from
his notes : ' ' Poor sinner, why despair
of thy salvation, since all here speaks
of mercy and of love? Behold the
two advocates who plead thy cause
before the tribunal of Divine Justice :
a Mother and a Redeemer, Mary,
who presents to her Son her heart
transfixed with the sword of sorrow;
Jesus, who presents to His Father
the wounds in His feet and hands,

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 95

and His Heart pierced by the
soldier's lance. Take courage; with
such a mediator, with such an inter-
cessor, Divine Mercy can not reject
thee."

Who could resist this appeal, or
fail to find strength and consola-
tion in it?

9 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XV.

ANTHONY PREACHES TO THE FISHES.

AGAIN I return to that garden
of delights, "The Little Flowers of
St. Francis." So delicate, so dainty,
so fragrant are these flowers one
can not pass them by unnoticed.
The lips of the devout fashioned
them, and for two centuries they
blossomed wherever the lovers of
the Saint were gathered together;
then they were carefully culled and
brought from near and far; and a
bouquet was made of them, and it
was called "The Little Flowers of
St. Francis. "

Therein we find that " our Blessed
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, de-
siring to set forth the great sanctity
of His most faithful servant, St.
Anthony, how devout a thing it

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 97

was to hear his preaching and his
holy doctrines, He reproved the
folly of heretics and infidels through
unreasoning beasts notably the
fishes, as of old in the Bible He
chid the ignorance of Balaam through
the mouth of the ass. Hence St.
Anthony being at Rimini, where
there was a great multitude of
heretics, desiring to bring them back
to the light of the true faith and
to the ways of virtue, for many days
did preach and set forth to them
the faith of Christ and of the Holy
Scriptures. But they, not only con-
senting not to his holy words, but
even, like hardened and obstinate
sinners, refusing to hearken unto
him, the Saint one day, by divine
inspiration, went forth to the banks
of the river close beside the sea;
and, standing thus upon the shore
betwixt sea and stream, he began
to speak in the guise of a sermon
in the name of God unto the fishes.
'Hear the word of God, ye fishes
of the sea and of the stream, since

9<9 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

heretics and infidels are loath to
listen to it. 1

"And, having uttered these words,
suddenly there came toward him
so great a multitude of fishes great,
small, and middle-sized as had
never been seen in that sea or in
that stream, or of the people round
about; and all held their heads up
out of the water, and all turned
attentively toward the face of An-
thony. And the greatest peace and
meekness and order prevailed; in-
somuch that next the shore stood
the lesser fish, and after them the
middle fish, and still after them,
where the water was deepest, stood
the larger fish.

"The fish being thus ranged in
order, St. Anthony began solemnly
to preach, speaking thus: 'My
brothers the fish, you are greatly
bounden, so far as in you lies, to
thank your Creator that He hath
given you so noble an element for
your habitation; so that at your
pleasure you have fresh waters and

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 99

salt; and He hath given you many
shelters against storm. He hath
also given you a clear and lucid
element, and food by which you
may live. God, your courteous and
benign Creator, when He created
you, commanded you to grow and
multiply; and He gave you His
blessing. Then when the great flood
swallowed up the world, and all
the other animals were destroyed,
God preserved you only without
injury or harm. Almost hath He
given you wings, that you may
roam whithersoever it pleases you.
To you was it granted, by God's
command, to preserve the prophet
Jonah, and after the third day to
cast him up upon the land safe and
sound. You offered tribute to our
Lord Jesus Christ, which He, poor
and lowly, had not wherewithal to
pay. You were the food of the
everlasting King Christ Jesus before
the Resurrection, and again after
it, by a strange mystery; for the
which things greatly are you bounden

ioo The Wonder -Worker of Padua

to praise and bless God, which hath
given you such great and so many
benefits, more than to any other
creatures/

"Upon these and other familiar
words and the teachings of St.
Anthony, the fishes began to open
their mouths and to bow their
heads; and by these and other signs
of reverence, according as it was
possible to them, they praised God.
Then St. Anthony, seeing such rev-
erence in the fishes toward God their
Creator, rejoiced in spirit, cried
aloud and said: 'Blessed be the
eternal God, since fishes of the water
honor Him far more than heretic
men, and the unreasoning beasts
more readily hearken to His word
than faithless men/ And as St.
Anthony continued his preaching,
the multitude of fishes was increased
yet more, and none departed from
the place which he had filled.

"Upon this miracle the people of
the town began to hasten forth, and
among them were also the aforesaid

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 101

heretics; the which, seeing so man-
ifest and marvellous a miracle, felt
their hearts sorely pricked, and they
fell with one accord at St. Anthony's
feet to hear his word. Then St.
Anthony began to preach of the
Catholic faith; and so nobly did
he discourse that he converted all
those heretics and turned them to
the true faith of Christ; and all
the faithful were comforted with
great joy, and were confirmed in
their faith. And this done, St.
Anthony dismissed the fishes with
the blessing of God; and they all
departed with marvellous signs of
rejoicing, and likewise the people.
And then St. Anthony stayed in
Rimini for many days, preaching
and reaping a spiritual harvest of
souls. "

102 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

XVI.
ANTHONY AND THE ISRAELITE.

THERE dwelt at Bourges, the capital
of Berry, in France, an Israelite
who was of all Israelites the most
bitter foe of the Catholic Church.
He was the leader of the anti-
Christian movement, an earnest
worker in opposition to every doc-
trine that Anthony taught. Guillard
the Jew was not an ignorant and
blind bigot: he was a man of in-
telligence, an honest doubter. Often
he had listened to the preaching of
Anthony, yet he was not convinced.
Shall we not say that it was his mis-
fortune rather than his fault that
he remained without the fold and
persistently assumed an attitude of
antagonism?

The dogma of the real presence of

The Wonder- W or her of Padua 103

Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament
was naturally his chief stumbling-
block. Much he could accept and
much consider in a calm spirit
of philosophical inquiry; but the
Eucharist, transubstantiation the
perpetual miracle was in his esti-
mation past belief. For this miracle
he demanded miraculous proof.

"The Turk does not question the
word of Mohammed," observed An-
thony to this fellow of Didimus the
Doubter; "the philosopher accepts
the philosophy of Aristotle; but
you, who pride yourself upon being
a worthy Israelite, will not accept
the testimony of the Son of God."
"I must see for myself, with these
very eyes, before I can believe,"
replied the doubting Thomas. There
are many who, like him, must put
their finger in the wounds before
they are convinced of the living
truth.

One day Guillard said to Anthony :
"Brother Anthony, if by some tan-
gible, outward sign you can confirm

IO4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

the truth you have demonstrated
by reasoning, I will abjure my
ancient creed and embrace yours.
Do you consent?" In order to save
a soul one may make great con-
cessions; nor was it beneath the
dignity of Anthony to offer visible
proof to an anxious and inquiring
eye. " I consent," said he. " I have
a mule," added the Jew: "I will
keep him for three days under lock
and key, and in all that time feed
him nothing. At the end of the
third day I will bring him to the
largest public square in the city;
and there, in the presence of all
the assembled people, I will offer
him a feed of oats. You, on the
other hand, will come carrying the
Host, which, as you believe, is the
true body of the Son of God. If
the mule refuses the proffered food
in order to prostrate himself before
the monstrance, I will become a
Catholic, and no longer question
the truth of the doctrine taught
by the Catholic Church."

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 105

Here was a direct challenge, and
it was not declined. Anthony felt
that his victory was assured. The
reward of that victory was an im-
mortal soul. For three days the
young apostle devoted himself to
fasting and prayer. Not for one
moment did he lose faith in the
success of the miracle he was about
to work, but he dared not attempt
it without solemn preparation. Mean-
while Guillard and his companions
were so sure of Anthony's total
defeat and discomfiture that there
was much merriment at the wonder-
worker's expense; and the interest
in the approaching test increased
from hour to hour.

The eventful day arrived. Guil-
lard and his friends trooped into
the public square with smiles and
laughter, so confident were they
that the famishing mule would in-
stantly abandon himself to his oats.
The immense throngs who had
gathered to witness the impending
spectacle were consumed with curi-

io6 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

osity. As Anthony slowly ap-
proached, bearing reverently the
Sacred Host, his eyes cast down, his
air devotional, a great hush fell
upon the multitude. He was fol-
lowed by a large crowd of the faith-
ful, singing canticles and whispering
prayers.

The mule was then led forward,
and the oats laid temptingly before
him. At that moment Anthony
drew near, bearing the monstrance.
Turning toward the dumb brute,
he exclaimed : "In the name of thy
Creator, whose body I, though un-
worthy, hold in my hands, I enjoin
and command thee, O being de-
prived of reason! to come hither
instantly and prostrate thyself before
thy God; so that by this sign
unbelievers may know that all crea-
tion is subject to the Lamb who is
daily immolated upon our altars."
In the same moment Guillard and
his friends presented the oats to
the famished beast. Without taking
the smallest notice of the food, the

The Wonder-Worker of Padua

mule, turning away, walked to the
feet of Anthony, and, bending his
knees, knelt before the Blessed Sacra-
ment and remained there in an
attitude of adoration.

Great was the enthusiasm among
the faithful. The heretics fled away
in fright and hid themselves for
shame; they dared not face the
one who had proved that prayer is
more powerful than the laws of
nature. Many were so moved by
the wondrous spectacle that, though
they had long wandered from the
path of duty, they returned into
the fold. Guillard likewise sought
admission, for he could no longer
doubt; and with him came his
household. He publicly attested his
faith, and in gratitude erected a
church upon the spot where the
miracle had taken place; and that
monument endures to this hour.
As late as 1850 a block of marble,
carved to represent a mule in the
attitude of devotion, was discovered
in the wall of the facade of the

io8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

church built by Guillard, and con-
secrated in 1231 by Archbishop
Simon de Sully.

Pierre Rosset, a Doctor of the
University of Paris and a poet of
the fifteenth century; Wadding, in
his "Annals of the Friars Minor";
and Benedict Mazzara, in his "Fran-
ciscan Legends," bear witness to
the authenticity of this memorial
of a miracle. Toulouse and Rimini
claim a like honor with Bourges,
and there are those who have be-
lieved that the miracle was repeated.
The evidence is cloudy and con-
flicting in these cases, but there is no
shadow of doubt that Anthony the
wonder-worker worked that wonder
in the ancient city of Bourges; and
that Guillard the Israelite then and
there built the Church of St. Peter
in honor of his glorious conversion.

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 109

XVII.

ANTHONY AND THE CHRIST-CHILD.

LET us not be disconcerted if we
find several cities contending for the
honor to which one only is entitled.
Since Homer's death it has been
the fate of the distinguished poet
to be claimed by many and various
peoples as father, brother, son;
though while living in obscurity
the devoted soul was suffered to
endure neglect. It is not surprising
that the miracles of Anthony have
not always been definitely located.
Some of them may have been re-
peated in two or more localities.
Tradition is more or less elastic;
it sometimes grows with what it
feeds on. What is of utmost im-
portance is the proof of a miracle;
it matters less where it actually
took place.

j jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua

In Anthony we see embodied the
beauty of holiness. There is one
who has borne witness to the truth
of this, for he was an eye-witness.
The blessed privilege he enjoyed
should have immortalized him, and
yet the authorities are not united
as to his identity.

Anthony founded the monastery
of Arcella Vecchia, without the walls,
about a mile distant from Padua.
There he loved to dwell; but as
his duties called him into the city
daily, and when preaching or hear-
ing confessions in the evening he
was often detained until the city
gates were closed, he found it neces-
sary to seek a lodging which he
could occupy at his leisure. This
he found, as Azevedo informs us,
at the house of Tiso, or Tisone, one
of the ancient family of counts of
Camposampiero, famous in the
records of their time.

That a miracle was performed
somewhere no chronicler doubts;
but Azevedo seems to have had

The Wonder-Worker of Padua in

insufficient proof of the grounds for
his statement that it took place in
Padua. Wadding, on the other hand,
does not attempt to locate it; but
Father Bonaventure de St. Amable,
a Carmelite of the seventeenth cen-
tury, on the authority of ancient
documents existing in his time, names
without hesitation Chateauneuf the
modern Chateauneuf - la - Foret as
the hallowed spot. The legend is
perhaps the best known in the life
of the Saint, as it is certainly the
most beautiful; and it has been a
favorite subject for the art of the
best masters during the last eight
hundred years.

Accepting the hospitality of the
Lord of Chateauneuf, who, accord-
ing to the "Annals de Limousin,"
dearly loved St. Anthony and his
holy Order, he retired to his chamber
and began the prayerful vigil that
usually extended far into the night.
His host, who was in an adjoining
apartment, was startled by a light
as of a conflagration that poured

j 12 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

from under the door of Anthony's
room. Hastening to the door, but
fearing to enter lest he should dis-
turb his guest, he listened for a
few moments. Hearing voices, he
became agitated; and, riveting his
eye at a crevice, he beheld a vision
that filled him with awe and wonder.
Anthony knelt at a table where
a large volume lay open; upon the
volume, or above it, stood a child
of such surpassing loveliness that
the gazer's heart leaped within him,
and his lips would have cried out
for joy but that some mysterious
influence enjoined silence upon him.
The body of the infant was efful-
gent: a soft glow was diffused on
every side. The lustre of that counte-
nance was ineffable. The radiant
being seemingly reposed upon the
air; and, from a soft veil of vapor
that emitted a celestial fragrance,
he leaned fondly upon the bosom of
the friar, and with hands of exquisite
loveliness delicately caressed him.
Soft music, mingled with voices of

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 113

heavenly tenderness and the flutter
of invisible wings, betokened the
presence of angelic visitors.

The child, who was the Christ-
Child, whispered in the ear of An-
thony; and, as the Saint turned to
the door, the master of Chateauneuf
knew that his presence was detected.
So when Anthony met him on the
morrow these words passed beween
them; the Limousin chronicler re-
cords them in their brevity and
simplicity: "Father, what did Our
Lord say to you?" "He revealed
to me that your house will flourish
and enjoy great prosperity so long
as it remains faithful to Mother
Church; but that it will be over-
whelmed with misfortune and be-
come extinct when it goes over to
heresy."

In the seventeenth century the
then Lord of Chateauneuf espoused
the cause of the Calvinists, and in
the fall of that house the prophecy
was fulfilled. As for Anthony, one
ever associates him with the Christ-

i 14 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Child who nestles in his arms. From
the holy visitations of the Divine
Infant he gathered inspiration, and
it was he who said: "The Sacred
Heart is a fountain of supernatural
life; a golden altar whereon is
burning, night and day forever,
incense that ascends in clouds of
fragrance toward the skies and
envelops and embalms the earth."

The W onder-W orker of Padua 115

XVIII.

S. A. G.

SOME folk think the letters are
mystical. Though their significance
is known to many, there are very
many more to whom they convey
no meaning. You will usually find
them, if they are visible, on the
addressed side of an envelope, down
in the lower left-hand corner. I
say when they are visible; for some
who use them seem afraid to use
them openly, and so the letters are
written in the ^ upper right-hand
corner of the envelope, where the
postage-stamp covers them ; or they
are inscribed on the underside of
the lapel of the envelope, and hidden
away.

It is a pretty cult, a sweet devo-
tion, a symbol of faith and trust;
and its votaries, who were shy

ii 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

enough at first and perhaps with
reason, for bigotry was rampant
but a few years ago, now grow
bolder; and their numbers multiply
daily, hourly, and are scattered
even unto the four quarters of the
globe.

S. A. G.! What do these letters
stand for? The question has been
asked me a thousand times. Per-
haps the letters, down in their cozy
corner, were passed unnoticed for
a time; then it was discovered that
they were not the initials of the
writer; interest was now excited,
and at last curiosity refused to be
satisfied until the mystery was
solved.

S. A. G.! St. Anthony guide; or,
St. Anthony guard. But why St.
Anthony guide? It is the peculiar
privilege of the Saint to guard and
guide all travellers, and especially
all toilers of the sea and all who
are exposed to the peril of wind and
wave. He is the rescuer and restorer
of the "lost, strayed, or stolen."

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 117

Not a day passes, not an hour, but
voices of the distressed are crying
to him for help in a search after
something that is mislaid. And they
do not cry in vain. There is testi-
mony enough in proof of this to
fill a library.

Is it a foolish office to heed these
sometimes trivial requests? Every
answer is an answer to prayer, and
the answer to prayer is the bulwark
of our faith. Thus the wonder-
worker works a perpetual wonder;
it is an incessant miracle, that brings
joy to myriads of grateful hearts.

Every year the number of letters
placed under the guidance of dear
St. Anthony increases. The writers
of letters who use the initials S. A. G.
seem to have formed an involuntary
brotherhood; they are unconscious
members of another order of St.
Francis, who thus proclaim, even
unto the ends of the earth, their
absolute faith in St. Anthony and
his readiness to aid them. That he
has a special interest in the trans-

n8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

portation of written messages is
twice proved in his own case. The
facts read like fairy tales but, then,
let us remember his life was one
long fairy tale filled full of wonders.
Anthony, on one occasion being
greatly in need of rest, wished to
retire for a little season to a solitude
about ten miles from Padua, known
as Campo San Pietro. With this
end in view, he wrote to his minister
provincial begging that he might
be permitted to repair thither. The
letter written he went to the superior
of the monastery and asked that
some trusty messenger be charged
with the delivery of his letter, and
his request was at once granted.
Returning to his cell to procure the
letter and deliver it to the messen-
ger, he found it had disappeared.
He searched for it in vain. Unable
to find it, he took it as a sign that
his duty lay where he was, and he
dismissed all thoughts of visiting
Campo San Pietro. Shortly after-
ward, turning again to his desk

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 119

where he had left the letter, he
found the answer lying there, the
answer written by his minister pro-
vincial, and freely granting his re-
quest. Was it a celestial messenger
that favored him? It is now An-
thony's turn to favor one of his
devoted clients.

In 1729 Antonio Dante, a Spanish
merchant, left Spain for South Amer-
ica and established his business in
Lima, Peru. His wife, who remained
in Spain, wrote to him repeatedly
without receiving a reply. In great
anxiety she went one day to the
Church of St. Francis, at Oviedo;
here was a large statue of St. An-
thony. She had with her a letter
addressed to her absent husband.
In all simplicity and with perfect
confidence, she placed that letter
in the hands of the statue and said:
"St. Anthony, I pray thee let this
letter reach him, and obtain for
me a speedy reply. "

The next day she returned to
renew her prayer. Seeing a letter

I2O The Wonder -Worker of Padua

still in his hands, and believing it
to be the one she had placed there,
the poor soul began to weep; and,
crying aloud, she said: "St. An-
thony, why have you kept the letter
which I wrote to my husband,
instead of sending it to him, as I
asked you?" Her boisterous grief
attracted the attention of the Brother
sacristan, who came to ask the cause
of it. When he had heard her
story he said: "I have in vain
tried to take that letter from the
hand of St. Anthony. See if he will
give it to you. She took the letter
from the hand of the image without
difficulty, and at the same moment
there fell from the sleeve of the
statue three hundred golden coins.
The amazed sacristan hastened into
the adjoining monastery, called the
friars into the church, where the
bewildered woman was still waiting;
and in their presence, before the
high altar, the letter was opened
and read. It ran as follows:

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 121

LIMA, July 23, 1729.

MY DEAR WIFE: For some time
I have been expecting a letter from
you, and been in great trouble at
not hearing from you. At last
your letter has come, and given me
joy. It was a Father of the Order
of St. Francis who brought it to
me. You complain that I have left
your letters unanswered. I assure
you that when I received none I
believed you to be dead. So you
may imagine my happiness at the
arrival of your last one. I answer
by the same religious, and send you
three hundred golden crowns, which
will suffice for your support until
my approaching return. In the hope
of soon being with you, I pray God
for you, commend myself to my
dear patron St. Anthony, and ar-
dently desire that you may continue
to send me tidings of yourself.
Your most affectionate,

ANTONIO DANTE.

The original letter, written in
Spanish, is preserved at Oviedo.

122 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XIX.

ANTHONY AT PADUA.

ANTHONY had long been a wanderer.
From Portugal he travelled into
Spain, Morocco, Sicily. He jour-
neyed from Messina to Assisi; from
Assisi to Monte Paolo, Toulouse,
Puy-en-Valey, Limoges, Rome, Ri-
mini, Venice, Ferrara, Mantua, and
elsewhere. But of all the cities he
visited and of all the peoples he
ministered unto, his name was des-
tined to become associated with
Padua and the Paduans.

The Padua of to-day is not the
Padua of old: it is naturally more
or less modernized; yet, happily,
a delightful flavor of antiquity still
abides there, and is perceptible in
all its nooks and corners. When
I first visited Padua I was a pilgrim
and a stranger. One may be ever

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 123

a pilgrim in that hallowed land,
but never twice a stranger. Alight-
ing at the station, I wandered
through the streets, suffering myself
to be piloted by my Good Angel
it may have been till I came to
the inn with the sign of the Three
White Crosses, and I abode there.
The fifty thousand people of Padua
left me to myself, and I went my
way as if I were invisible to any.
This shrine seems to be the least
commercial of them all, and yet
it is one of the most famous and the
most popular.

How soon one does Padua as a
tourist: devouring it, as it were;
bolting it as the hungry sight-seer
bolts everything visible! Of course
there is a memory and an indiges-
tion after all is over, and the fagged
tourist packs himself home and sits
down to think. One does it in a
day so much of Padua as is in the
guidebook. There is a memory of
lovely churches and the tombs of
saints, and old walls covered with

124 The W onder-W orker of Padua

very ancient frescoes and other works
of art, here Giotto was in his glory.
And there is a memory of a host of
college boys wandering to and fro
with their arms upon one another's
shoulders. A world-famous Uni-
versity, that has been flourishing
half a thousand years, is located
here.

Somehow, one can not help think-
ing of Enrico and his Italian ' ' School-
Boy 's Journal" that most charm-
ing of the works of De Amicis
when one falls in with these Paduan
students, with their troubadour faces
and airs and graces albeit they are
not half so interesting as little En-
rico. Oh, the power, the beauty,
the fervor and the pathos of that
book "Cuore," by Edmondo de
Amicis! Read it if you have not
read it; there you will see the heart
of Young Italy laid bare.

The great circular piazza of the
city is wreathed with a double row
of statues, commemorating in marble
the famous or perhaps in some

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 125

cases the infamous graduates of
the memorable University.

In Anthony's day Padua was a
very different town. Now it lan-
guishes in its comfortable age; then
it was the abode of luxury, the haunt
of vice. Debauchery and usury
flourished; family feuds were rife,
and God was forgotten. At Rimini,
Bourges, Toulouse, Anthony had
warred against heresy; at Padua
it was the sensuous and sensual
and dissolute life of the people he
was called upon to reform. Fear-
lessly he struck at the root of the
evil; face to face he attacked the
depravity of those high in office;
hand to hand he wrestled with every
obstacle that was raised before him,
and overthrew them each and all.
He was gentle, but firm; and his
manner was so majestic, his argu-
ment so convincing, and his denun-
ciation so terrible, that no one
could long withstand him.

He put an end to the most pain-
ful family contentions, and to the

126 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

scandalous quarrels of political fac-
tions. Guelph and Ghibelline were
reconciled; those who had been
long estranged fell upon one another's
necks and exchanged the kiss of
peace. Those who seemed unap-
proachable were approached by him;
those who were deaf to all others
gave him an attentive ear.

Sixty-four years after his con-
version by St. Anthony, a once
notorious brigand gave to the Friars
Minor the following remarkable nar-
rative of his personal experience:

"I was a brigand by profession
and one of a band of robbers. There
were twelve of us living in the forest,
whence we issued to waylay travel-
lers and commit every kind of de-
predation. The reputation of An-
thony, his preaching and his miracu-
lous deeds, penetrated even to our
ears in the depths of the forest.
Rumor compared him to the Prophet
Elias. It was said his words were
so ardent and efficacious as to re-
semble the spark that falling into

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

the sheaves of corn sets them aflame
and consumes them.

"We resolved to disperse ourselves
one day amongst the crowd in order
to test the truth of these assertions.
While he spoke another voice seemed
to resound in our ears the voice of
remorse. After the sermon all the
twelve of us, contrite and repentant,
threw ourselves at his feet. He
called down upon us the divine
pardon, but not without warning
us that if we unfortunately relapsed
into our old ways we should perish
miserably. This prediction was veri-
fied. A few did relapse, and ended
their days on the gallows. Those
who persevered fell asleep in the
peace of the Lord.

"As for myself, St. Anthony im-
posed upon me the penance of mak-
ing a pilgrimage twelve times to the
tomb of the Apostles. To-day I
have completed my twelfth visit;
and I feel confident that, according
to his promise and through his
merits, I shall meet him above/'

128 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

The chronicle adds: "Tears and
sobs interrupted the old man's last
words."

Anthony is the glory of Padua,
and gloriously has Padua enshrined
him. In all her strange, eventful
history there is no name that shines
like his. He was one of the two who
did more for the enlightenment,
the humanizing and the harmonizing
of the hordes of the Middle Ages
than all the rest besides.

Frederic Morin, in his "St. Fran-
cois et les Franciscains," says:
"Modern Europe has no idea of all
it owes to St. Francis of Assisi."
Montalembert has proved by indis-
putable facts that "the victory of
Christianity over neo-paganism in
the Middle Ages was chiefly due to
the gallant efforts of the two new
religious bodies that sprang up in
the thirteenth century."

In the introduction of his life of
"St. Elizabeth of Hungary" Monta-
lembert says: "The children of St.
Dominic and St. Francis spread

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 129

themselves over Italy (then torn
by so many disorders), striving to
reconcile rival factions, to vindicate
truth and confute error; acting as
supreme arbitrators, yet judging all
things in a spirit of charity. In
1233 they could be seen traversing
the peninsula, armed with crosses,
incense, and olive branches; up-
braiding the cities and princes with
their crimes and enmities; and the
people, for a time at least, bowed
before this sublime mediation." Ce-
sare Cantu, in his "Histoire Univer-
selle," adds: "At the head of the
peacemakers we must place St.
Francis of Assisi and his disciple,
St. Anthony of Padua. "

Anthony preached peace and he
restored it. His constant cry was:
"No more war; no more hatred
and bloodshed, but peace ! God wills
it!" And there was peace. He was
not quite alone in his noble efforts
toward the reconciliation of all man-
kind: the parish clergy, the sons
of St. Benedict and St. Dominic,

130 The^ Wonder -Worker of Padua

as well as the sons of St. Francis,
rallied at his call and mustered under
his generalship. It was a holy war
and a triumphant one. Among these
soldiers of the Cross was one Luke
Belludi, a preacher of eloquence
and power, who received the habit
from St. Francis himself, and who
was one of Anthony's most devoted
followers. His ashes lie buried by
the side of those of the Saint he
loved, in that wonderful shrine in
Padua.

He had his willing workers there
in Padua and elsewhere, but the
burden fell upon the shoulders of
Anthony. And what a burden of
responsibility of patient endurance,
of calm judgment and wise and
deliberate action it was! Yet all
the while he was devoted to his
mission: day and night he was in
the pulpit or the confessional, or
by the bedside of the sick and dying ;
and none of the thousand cares of
the sacred ministry was neglected
by him. Ever forgetful of self, it

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 131

is said that often and often he would
toil until evening with no other
nourishment, and no thought of other
nourishment, than the Blessed Bread
he had received from the altar at
dawn. And all this was for the love
of his people, for the honor of Padua
and the greater glory of God.

1 32 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XX.

THE PASSING OF ANTHONY.

ANTHONY having chosen Padua as
his place of residence, because, as
his biographer, John Peckham, says,
"of the faith of its inhabitants, their
attachment to him, and their devo-
tion to the Friars Minor," he there
ended his life-work in his thirty-
sixth year of grace.

How he loved Padua ! A fortnight
before his death, having ascended
a hill overshadowing the city, he
gazed down upon it in all its beauty ;
and, stretching forth his hands above
its marble palaces, its domes, and
lofty bell-towers, embosomed in
bower of foliage; while the incense
of its blossoming gardens was wafted
to him, and the ripening corn-fields
and the vineyards framed it all in
a frame of gold and green and

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

purple, he exclaimed in rapture:
"Blessed be thou, O Padua, for the
beauty of thy site! Blessed be thou
for the harvest of thy fields ! Blessed
also shalt .thou be for the honor
with which Heaven is about to
crown thee ! ' ' What honor? At that
moment, in a vision, he beheld the
celestial city, and through the gates
of Padua the beloved his soul was to
pass hence forever.

It was while on his way to the
heights of Campo San Pietro, a
few miles from Padua, passing
through a wood, the property of
his friend Don Tiso, Anthony dis-
covered a walnut-tree of gigantic
proportions; here was deep shadow,
layer upon layer, among branches
as large as the rafters of a hall.
Nothing could be more inviting; for
only the birds nested there, while
the butterflies fluttered in the sun-
shine that environed it. It was a
green island in a golden sea; a
place of refuge and refreshment for
the world-weary.

134 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Having foreknowledge of his death,
Anthony bethought him of this re-
treat. With pliant boughs he wove
a wall of verdure, and fashioned
a little cell between earth and
heaven, the daintiest oratory that
ever was, and a couch for one who
was in the world but not of it. The
old masters have pictured him as
in a nest among the spreading
branch, and have painted him with
childlike simplicity as brooding there.
Probably his leafy cell was a little
heaven of detachment, where nothing
ever broke in upon his meditations.
His faithful allies, Brother Luke
Belludi and Brother Roger, kept
watch with him, two silent sen-
tinels standing between him and
the outer world.

Once a day he descended from
his airy solitude and broke bread
with the two Brothers who attended
him; it seemed to be more a matter
of form than of necessity. He no
longer was of the earth as we are,
but was a spirit bearing about a

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 135

fragile shell of clay that was soon
to be laid aside, a useless and aban-
doned thing. His waking hours
were passed in prayer and in the
completion of his commentaries. He
spoke not, nor was he ever known
to smile : he was absorbed in prepa-
ration for his final flight.

One day, when he had descended
to break his fast with his companions,
he fainted at their rustic board. At
first the Brothers thought him in
ecstasy for his ecstasies were fre-
quent now; but, seeing the shadow
of death upon him, they hastened
to assist him to a couch of green
shoots close at hand. Having re-
covered consciousness, and seeing
the Brothers bending over him in
tears, he begged that he might at
once be taken to the monastery at
Padua, there to die among his
brethren, supported by their pres-
ence and their prayers. He was
tenderly placed in a passing peasant's
cart, and the sad procession started.
But so great was his exhaustion

The Wonder-Worker of Padua

when they reached Arcella the Con-
vent of Poor Clares, near the gates
of the city, that the Brothers be-
sought him to alight there to seek
the rest he stood so much in need
of. With difficulty he was assisted
into a small hospice adjoining the
convent, where dwelt three or four
Friars Minor who acted as chaplains
to the daughters of St. Clare.

By this time Anthony was begin-
ning to lose consciousness; but,
recovering himself for a little while,
he made his last confession. When
the friars proposed to anoint him
he said: "I already possess that
unction within myself; but it is
good to receive it outwardly/'

While Extreme Unction was being
administered he recited with the
brethren prayers for the dying and
the Penitential Psalms, and received
the absolution. Then, filled with a
heavenly joy that was like an ecstasy,
to the wonder of those about him,
he sang alone, and in a clear, full
voice, his favorite hymn:

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

O gloriosa Domina
Excelsa super sidera,
Qui te creavit provide
Lactasti sacro ubere.

Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
Tu reddis almo germine:
Intrent ut astra flebiles,
Cceli fenestra facta es.

Tu Regis alti janua,
Et porta lucis fulgida:
Vitam datam per Virginem,
Gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula.

Having ceased singing, he raised
his eyes to heaven with a gaze that
startled his companions; it was as
if those eyes were filled with some
wondrous vision. Brother Roger,
in whose arms he was supported,
said: "What do you see?" And
Anthony answered, still gazing in
rapture : "I behold my God ! ' ' For
about half an hour he was lost in
contemplation of the beatific vision;

138 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

and then, like a weary child, he
fell into a deep sleep and woke no
more.

At the moment when his soul was
set free from its earthly tabernacle
Anthony appeared to Don Thomas,
the Abbot of St. Andrew's at Ver-
celli, who was at the time sitting
alone in the room. His former pupil
entered and said to him: "See,
Father Abbot, I have left my
burden near the gates of Padua,
and am hastening to mine own
country." He then passed his hand
caressingly across the throat of the
Abbot, who was suffering from a
severe chronic affliction; and the
throat was permanently cured.
Thereupon Anthony disappeared.

The Abbot, surprised at the sudden
entrance and the exit of Anthony,
hastened after him to beg him to
remain a little while a guest; but,
throwing open the door of his
chamber, no Anthony was visible.
Those who were waiting in the ante-
chamber had seen nothing of him;

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 739

nor had any one at St. Andrew's,
save the Abbot, any knowledge of
Anthony. Then the Abbot knew
that the burden Anthony had left
at Padua was his body; and that
the home to which he was hasten-
ing was not Portugal, but Paradise.

Efforts were made to keep An-
thony's death a secret. He was the
popular idol of all Italy, and not
alone of Italy: he had wielded
greater personal influence than al-
most any man of his time. He was
not only respected by the masses,
but he was listened to with rapt
attention by the representatives of
all classes, from the peer to the
peasant. He was loved by all,
reverenced by all; he was fairly
worshipped by the vast multitude of
his faithful followers. And, there-
fore, it was deemed wise to keep
his death a secret for a time at
least, lest the populace should be
distracted and demoralized by so
terrible a blow.

Man proposes! Hardly had his

10

140 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

bright spirit taken its flight when
the children of Padua the children
he so dearly loved, as if inspired,
rushed about the streets in a kind
of frenzy, crying out: "Our Saint
is dead! St. Anthony is dead!"
Consternation followed; the whole
city was plunged in desperate grief;
and still worse was to follow.

The body of Anthony was a
precious treasure coveted by all.
As the dying gaze of St. Francis
rested upon Assisi, the city of his
soul, whose portals he was not again
permitted to enter in the flesh, so
Anthony, homesick and heart-sick
for his Padua, gave up the ghost
without her gates. Had Anthony
entered the city and breathed his
last in the monastery of his Order,
there could have arisen no question
as to the ultimate disposition of his
remains. But he fell by the way-
side, as it were; therefore the Poor
Clares, in whose humble hospice he
died, claimed the honor of enshrining
his remains; so did his brethren, the

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 141

Friars Minor of Padua; so also
did the suburbs and the magistracy
of Padua promptly forward their
claims. Thus it happened that the
body of the Saint who strove to
bring peace into the world once
more, became the source of violent
contention.

John Peckham describes the grief
of the Poor Clares at the death of
Anthony. "Alas!" they cried, "un-
happy we! O tender Father of our
souls, taken forever from your
daughters, why has death spared
us for this cruel blow? Our poverty
contented us and we counted our-
selves rich when we could hear you
preach to us the Gospel of the Lord."

Then one of the nuns sought to
console the others in these words:
"Why shed useless tears? It is not
the dead we are bewailing, but an
immortal, the companion of angels,
an inhabitant of heaven. A great
consolation will flow for us out of
this painful separation if we can
keep him here amongst us a joy

142 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

we could not have whilst he lived."
The Poor Clares sent a deputation
to the magistrates and nobles of
Padua, beseeching them to lend
their influence to the end that the
body of Anthony might be retained
in their convent. The friars, imme-
diately upon learning of his death,
hastened to Arcella with the in-
tention of removing the remains at
once to their monastery of Santa
Maria. " It was his wish," they said,
in proof of their right to possess
the body. And so it was his wish;
yet the people of Capodiponte, where
Arcella was situated, openly sided
with the Poor Clares, and resolved
that the Friars Minor should not
carry away with them the blessed
remains. The friars appealed to the
bishop, who decided in their favor;
but when the enthusiastic Paduans
went forth to bring away the body,
they were met by the armed
partisans of the Poor Clares, and
bloodshed seemed imminent and
inevitable.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 143

At length the bishop persuaded
the combatants to declare a truce
until the provincial who was absent
at the time, and had been sent for
should return. Still this did not
suffice. That very night, while the
friars at the hospice of the Poor
Clares were watching beside the
dead behind barricaded doors, the
excited populace, eager to get a
view of the body, if not to carry
it away with them, threw down the
barricades and rushed in to drive
away the watchers. On the instant
they were struck blind, and trans-
fixed as if turned to stone.

At daybreak the multitude as-
sembled to look upon the body of
Anthony and to touch it. Miracles
were wrought then and there; while
from time to time arose a wail from
the people, who cried with one voice:
"Whither have you gone, loving
Father of Padua? Have you really
gone away, and left behind the
children who repented and were
born again to Christ through you?

144 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Where shall we find another to
preach to us orphans with such
patience and charity?"

Owing to the non-arrival of the
provincial, Brother Leo Valvasari,
a very wise and prudent man later
Archbishop of Milan, went out to
calm the passions of the ever-
increasing throngs. Addressing the
men of Arcella, he said:

- "My brothers, there can be no
question of justice as regards your
claim; but if you wish to retain
the body of Father Anthony, asking
it as a favor, I and my brethren
will consult as to what seems to
be the will of God. Meanwhile I
gladly give you permission to watch
the place where our holy Father
Anthony lies, in order that you may
not distrust us."

A body of armed men was sent
from Padua to protect the convent
of the Poor Clares, and an order
issued that any one molesting the
friars, or found carrying weapons

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 145

at Arcella, should be fined a hundred
pounds of silver.

When the bishop held court a
few days later, he summoned the
Friars Minor, as well as the repre-
sentatives of Capodiponte, in order
that he might hear and judge both
sides of the question. It was now
the belated provincial who arose
and said:

" Justice is a holy thing, and
must never be made the sport of
passion. Love and attachment are
praiseworthy, but they must give
way to justice. This present affair
has been conducted with blind pas-
sion rather than according to the
rules of justice. Who can doubt
that Brother Anthony belonged to
us? You all witnessed his arrival
at Santa Maria; how he went in
and out amongst us; how if he
went on a journey it was to us he
returned. A month ago he left us;
but only, as he himself said, to come
back in a short time, and then
to remain with us altogether. I,

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

therefore, who, although unworthy,
govern this province, declare frankly
Brother Anthony belongs to us, as
he himself wished. We do not
demand this ; but we, in all humility,
ask the venerated chief pastor, the
honorable council, and the faithful
people of Padua, to grant our
petition."

The petition was granted: the
Sisters of Arcella graciously resigned
their claim; peace was restored;
and on the i8th of June, 1231
five days after his death the body
of Anthony was solemnly conveyed
from the convent of the Poor Clares
to the Church of Santa Maria, in
Padua. It was a triumphal proces-
sion, participated in by the bishop,
the clergy, the members of the
University, the civil authorities, and
vast throngs of the inhabitants.
The noblest of the Padovani in
turn carried the bier; a myriad
flaming candles borne after it were
as a wake of fire. Pontifical Mass
was celebrated by the bishop; and,

The Wonder-Worker of Padua '147

after the customary rites, the body
was laid in a marble sarcophagus
supported by four columns. From
this shrine a flood of miraculous
power issued. The blind saw, the
deaf heard, the maimed walked, and
the sick were healed. Even those
who could not enter the church for
the throngs that filled it to suffoca-
tion were cured in the presence of
the multitudes without.

Toward the end of his life, by
reason of his prolonged vigils, his
continuous fasting, his arduous and
unceasing labors, Anthony's form
was wasted, his face haggard, his skin
like drawn parchment; he was en-
feebled to the verge of decrepitude.
Those who looked upon his body
after death found it restored to the
incomparable beauty of youth. The
smile of infancy played upon those
fair features; a delicate flush suf-
fused them; the limbs were once
more softly rounded, and were pliable
to the very last, as if he were but
dreaming a sweet dream of rest.

14-8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

There he lay, wrapped in the inno-
cent slumber of a child, fragrant as
a dew-drenched rose a very lily of
purity plucked in its perfect prime.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 149

XXI.

THE SORROWS OF ANTHONY.

How can a saint be sorrowful?
Should not his sanctity alone be
sufficient to fill him with inexpressi-
ble joy? He can sorrow for the sins
of others, though he himself is sin-
less. Anthony no doubt did this
again and again, and yet again. He
can despise himself and his works,
they both fall so far short of his
ideal; and surely this is sorrow
enough for one soul to suffer. An-
thony sorrowed in like manner; but
I believe this was not his chief
sorrow. The source of his sorrow
lay elsewhere.

In looking back through the brief
history of his career, we find that,
in a certain sense, Anthony's life
was a series of disappointments,

150 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

was, in fact, one long disappoint-
ment from beginning to end. He
did not pride himself upon his
noble blood. He despised the riches
that were in store for him and
turned from them with contempt.
He took no pleasure in the pastimes
of his playmates. He sought only
solitude; for his soul was ever
solitary, and would fain fly away
into the wilderness and there make
its home.

Having found a solitude which
seemed suitable in all respects, his
spiritual tranquillity was disturbed
by the advent of the friars who
were even then far on the royal
road to martyrdom. Then solitude
lost its charms; he also yearned
for the baptism of blood the blessed
pangs, the purifying flames, and the
martyr's glorious palm. Yet these
were not for him. At the very
threshold of the arena, where torture
and cruel death awaited their inno-
cent victims, he was denied ad-
mittance and laid low with a fever

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 151

that compelled his reluctant retreat.
Here was sorrow upon sorrow; for
he had been thus rudely awakened
from the loftiest dream of his life.

Again his heart sought retirement,
and, like the stricken deer, fled from
the herd in anguish and dismay.
The world he loathed with a
righteous loathing; and to escape
from it he feigned a simplicity of
mind that, had it been genuine,
must have unfitted him for almost
every walk in life. Through this
innocent ruse he was once more
enabled to taste the sweets of soli-
tude. There he enriched himself
with those spiritual riches which
he was anon to scatter broadcast
through the world.

Not long could he hide his light
under a bushel, let him try never
so hard. The breadth and beauty
of his mind, the loving kindness of
his heart, the splendor of his talents,
the wisdom of his judgment, the
depth of his penetration, the pro-
fundity of his speculations, and the

1 52 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

luminous exposition of every theme
he touched upon, finally swept him
into the very vortex of political and
religious contention.

This was the end of all his cher-
ished hopes and fond aspirations.
Real solitude he could never again
know, save at long intervals and
for a little moment; and even then
he must have accused himself of
leaving worldly duties unperformed
for the holier and purer joy of
silence and seclusion.

But sorrow's crown of sorrow
awaited him. Finding himself sud-
denly called to his reward, with
but a few hours between him and
the grave, his one desire was to
reach the city he had chosen for
his own and the monastery of his
brother friars, where he had hoped
to end his days. Within sight of
the gates of that city, within sound
of the monastery bell, he was
stricken down to death; and for a
time it seemed as if his dust would

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 153

not be permitted to lie within the
sanctuary of his adoption.

Therefore I say that the sorrows
of Anthony were, in a certain
sense, continuous and unceasing,
that his life was one long sorrow.
He bore this grievous burden meekly
and in silence, with never a murmur
of complaint. We have not learned
from his lips or his pen a single
syllable of his sufferings, mental,
spiritual, or physical; but we know
full well that he was a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief.

J54 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XXII.

THE JOYS OF ANTHONY.

SORROW is for a night; joy cometh
with the morning; and joys are
the more joyful by reason of the
sorrows that have preceded them.
Life without contrasts is like a
picture without light and shade
a blank. Such a life is not worth
the living.

A poet has remarked: "The joy
of love is loving." This is doubtless
true, and this was Anthony's chief
joy: he loved his fellowmen even
when he sought to shun them. It
was his nature to love, even as it
was his nature to seek retirement,
and to strive, perhaps, to forget
the object of his love; for his love
for God was the ruling passion of
his life. As he loved all, so he won

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 155

the love of all even the love of
his enemies, who straightway became
his faithful followers.

Out of the abundance of his love
he worked his wonders. Like a
good husbandman, he went to and
fro sowing peace in the field of
dissension. At his approach, bring-
ing with him as he did an atmosphere
that penetrated the hardest heart
and softened it, he attuned long-
standing discords; he harmonized
the inharmonious home circle.

To the wife fleeing from the wrath
of an enraged and unreasonable
husband, he said: "Return to your
own home in peace." And when
she had come to her own house, a
kindly welcome awaited her. To
the infant whose lips had not yet
framed a syllable, and whose father
had unjustly accused his wife of
infidelity, Anthony said : "My child,
I adjure thee, in the name of the
Infant God of the Manger, to declare
publicly, in clear and positive terms,

to whom thou owest thy exist ence."
11

/5<5 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

The child, in the arms of its mother,
turned toward the accuser and pro-
nounced distinctly these three words :
"Behold my father!" Then An-
thony, taking the babe and placing
it in the arms of the husband, said:
" Love this child for it is indeed your
own. Love also your wife, who has
been proved to be faithful, devoted,
and worthy of your affection."

What a sermon, in a few words, on
true and false love, he preached at
the funeral of the Florentine notable !
Anthony's text was: "Where thy
treasure is there thy heart is also."
Pausing suddenly, he beheld in a
vision the soul of that rich man in
torment. He exclaimed: "This rich
man is dead and his soul is in tor-
ture! Go open his coffers and you
will find his heart." The astonished
relatives and friends hastened to
do his bidding; and there, half
buried among the gold pieces, they
found the still palpitating heart of
the dead Croesus.

It was Anthony's fearless joy to

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 157

bring a misguided bishop to re-
pentance. He must have been con-
scious of his power to impart health
to the sick, and even to breathe
life into the marble lips of the
dead. Daily nay, almost hourly
he brought peace to the heart that
was troubled; he dried the tears
of the mourner, and planted hope
in the bosom of despair. These
were the joys that must have visited
him daily yea, even hourly; for
daily and hourly was he scattering
benedictions broadcast, even as the
rain from heaven that falleth alike
upon the just and the unjust.

And so he passed away from
sorrows that were ended, and from
earthly joys to the joys of heaven,
the joys that are without beginning
and without end. He passed away
beloved and bewailed by peoples
and by nations, whose hearts he
had touched as they had never yet
been touched; whose consciences he
had pricked until they had goaded
their possessors into new paths,

j 58 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

where they learned to lead nobler
and braver lives; whose souls he
had quickened and gathered into
the fold, and saved forever and
forever.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 159

XXIII.

THE GLORIES OF ANTHONY.

NUMBERLESS are the glories of An-
thony, and they are ever increasing
from age to age. Pope Gregory IX.,
who called him "the Ark of both
Testaments and the storehouse of
the Sacred Scriptures," longed to
honor him. Under his teaching and
preaching numberless heretics had
been converted, rebellious cities had
been reconciled, and the miracles
which were being constantly wrought
through his instrumentality had
created astonishing fervor through-
out the land; therefore it was the
wish of his Holiness to attach
Anthony to the Papal court and
invest him with the purple. The
gentle Franciscan, remembering the
replies of St. Dominic and St. Francis

160 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

on a like occasion, in 1217, made
answer in the words of the founder
of his Order. "My Lord," said the
Seraphic Father, "my children are
called Friars Minor because they
hold the lowest rank in the Church.
This is their post of honor. Beware
of taking it from them under the
pretext of raising them higher. "
So Anthony was permitted to return
into the solitude of God, and this
was one of his glories.

It was a glorious privilege An-
thony enjoyed when he was per-
mitted to fly to the rescue of his
father, who was in dire distress.
That father Don Martino was still
a resident of Lisbon, still basking
in the favor of the King and holding
high office in the court. One day
a young nobleman coming from the
cathedral was seized and murdered
by assassins, who threw the body
into the garden of Don Martino,
which was close at hand. Don
Martino was arrested on suspicion
and cast into prison.

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 161

To Anthony the fate of his father
was miraculously revealed. Having
perfect faith in his innocence, and
desiring to go at once to his rescue,
Anthony asked leave of the superior
of the convent of Arcella to absent
himself from Padua for a little time.
He was himself Provincial, and not
obliged to ask leave of the Father
Guardian; but he never forgot the
exercise of humility, for he was
meekness itself. Having obtained
leave of absence, he began his weary
journey, scarcely knowing when or
how he was to reach its end, or
whether he should arrive in time to
rescue his father from impending
peril. Filled with hope and perfect
trust, suddenly he found himself
miraculously transported to Lisbon.
The trial was in progress. Anthony
at once entered the courts; and,
presenting himself before the judges,
who were struck dumb with amaze-
ment, he begged leave to speak in
defence of Don Martino. He de-
clared his father innocent. Where

1 62 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

were his proofs? Anthony replied:
"The murdered man shall bear
witness as to the truth of my
testimony."

Anthony led the way to the
victim's grave, followed by the won-
dering judges and the excited popu-
lace. He commanded that the grave
be opened; and when it was opened
and the body was uncovered, An-
thony, addressing the dead man,
charged him, in the name of God
to say whether Martino de Bouillon
was his murderer. Rising in his
grave-clothes to a sitting posture,
resting upon one hand while the
other was raised to heaven, the dead
declared in a loud voice that Martino
de Bouillon was guiltless. Then,
turning to Anthony, he begged ab-
solution from an excommunication
under which he labored; and, when
his prayer was answered, he sank
back into his coffin, a corpse again.
Then the bewildered judges begged
the Saint to reveal the name of the
murderer, and he replied: "I come

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 165

to clear the innocent, not to denounce
the guilty." When Anthony re-
appeared at Arcella, he had been
absent two nights and a single day.
On another occasion Don Martino,
who had the management of a con-
siderable portion of the royal ex-
chequer, delivered a large sum of
money into the hands of his subor-
dinates, who neglected to give him
a receipt for it. Some months later,
when about to render his accounts
he remembered that he had no
receipt for certain monies delivered;
and when he asked for one, those who
had received the sum denied all
knowledge of the transaction. It
was a plot of his enemies to ruin
him. While he was standing before
his audacious accusers, in despair
of proving his case, Anthony ap-
peared at his side; and, naming to
his accusers the exact hour and the
very place when and where they had
received the money, even describ-
ing the different coins in which it
had been paid, he demanded that

1 6 4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

a full receipt be at once rendered
to his father; and as soon as it
was done he disappeared. This is
one of several instances of biloca-
tion in the miraculous history of
Anthony.

He knew the minds and the
hearts of all, and spoke to many
at a distance, calling them by
name he had perhaps never met
them face to face. At his word they
were converted, and returned to
the Holy Sacraments. Said Pope
Gregory IX. six hundred years ago:
"The supernatural which blossoms
from the tombs of the elect is a
continuous proclamation of truth;
for by this means God confounds
the malice of heretics, confirms the
truth of Catholic dogma, renews the
faith that is on the point of being
extinguished, leads back Christians
who have erred nay, even Jews
and pagans to the feet of Him
who is the Way, the Truth^ and the
Life."

The famous book of the Bollan-

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 165

dists contains nearly thirty folio
pages filled with the record of pure
miracles. Azevedo devotes an entire
book of four chapters to some of
the miracles of Anthony selected
by the Bollandists as most authen-
tic. Under the head of " Death, "
among the classified miracles, Aze-
vedo names a dozen cases; in each
case the dead was brought to life.
Under the head of ' ' Error " he
notes numerous miraculous conver-
sions, among them a Lutheran, a
Calvinist, a Turkish lady, and an
Indian prince. Under the title of
" Calamity " are stories of miraculous
relief brought to many and various
persons. Those condemned to death
were delivered, the imprisoned were
set free, and all manner of diseases
were healed.

It is a pretty story told of a child
whose mother seeing it fall from a
high window, cried to Anthony for
help. When the distracted mother
rushed to seek her boy, he ran
smiling to her and said: "A friar

1 66 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

caught me in his arms and placed
me gently on the ground/' The
mother took her child to the old
Franciscan church of Ara Cceli, in
Rome, to return thanks; and as
they entered it the little fellow,
pointing to a picture, said: "See!
there is the friar who saved me!"
The friar was St. Anthony of Padua.
A poor leper was being carried
to the shrine of Anthony when he
was met by a heartless soldier who
scoffingly saluted him: "Whither
art thou going, wretch? May thy
leprosy come upon myself if St.
Anthony succeeds in curing thee!"
The leper went his way; and, while
praying fervently, the Saint ap-
peared to him and said: "Arise!
Thou art whole. But seek out the
soldier who mocked thee and give
him the clappers; for leprosy is
already devouring him." (The clap-
pers were an instrument of warning
which all lepers were obliged to
carry about with them when in
the streets, that people might avoid

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 167

infection.) He who was a leper but
a few moments before found the
soldier in a wretched plight. The
soldier, in his turn, repented; and,
calling upon the Saint, he was
straightway healed.

Many were the wells he blessed,
and the waters thereof cured fevers
from that hour. Indeed, so wide is
the range of his miracles that one
may call on him in any strait.

Perhaps the tenderest devotion
of all he has awakened in the
guileless heart of maidenhood. At
his feet she lays her heart, and asks
of him guidance in the choice of
its protector. Trusting him, through
him she would trust his choice for
her; and thus repose in perfect
confidence upon the bosom of one
whose lot in life she has been sought
to share in a union so dear, so
delicate, so devotional, it seems
indeed under the immediate patron-
age of the most loyal and lovable
of saints.

Anthony spent the first fifteen

1 68 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

years of his brief life in his paternal
home; two years at St. Vincent's
the monastery of the Canons Regular
of St. Augustine, near Lisbon; nine
years at Santa Cruz, in Coimbra;
and about ten and a half years in
the Order of the Friars Minor. He
then passed away. So prodigious
were the wonders worked at his
tomb and through his intercession,
within six months after Anthony's
death the bishop of Padua petitioned
the Holy See to confer on the wonder-
worker the honor of canonization.
The preliminary judicial inquiries
were instituted without delay; and,
by an exception almost unparalleled
in history, before the year was
ended, on Whit-Sunday, May 30,
1232, the Sovereign Pontiff Gregory
IX., then at Spoleto, solemnly pro-
nounced the decree of canonization.
In it he says:

"Having ourselves witnessed the
wonderful and holy life of blessed
Anthony, the great wonder-worker
of the universal Church, and unwill-

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 169

ing to withhold the honor due on
earth from one whom Heaven itself
has surrounded with glory, we, in
virtue of the plenitude of our apos-
tolic authority, after having duly
consulted our brethren the cardinals,
deem it expedient to inscribe him
in the calendar of saints."

Indescribable rejoicing followed
the announcement that Anthony
had been declared a saint. His
mother and his two sisters, who
survived him, enjoyed the extraor-
dinary privilege of witnessing the
festivities given in honor of the
Saint. Every city that had known
him in the flesh now especially
honored him ; every house or hospice
or haunt that he had visited became
hallowed in the eyes of his followers
and a place of pious pilgrimage.
At Brive, in the south of France,
pilgrimages were twice interrupted
and for a long time discontinued.
In 1565 the Calvinists were the cause
of this interruption, and in 1793 the
Revolutionists. But in 1874 Mon-

i jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua

signer Berteaux re-established the
devotion; the sons of St. Francis
again took possession of the hill
sanctified by the prayers of the
wonder-worker; and the Bishop of
Tulle, on August 3, 1874, when
the Franciscans were reinstated, re-
marked on that joyful occasion:

" To-day I, the Bishop of this
diocese, in the name of the Church,
take possession again of this vener-
able sanctuary, this celestial hill. . . .
This spot has heard the ardent sighs
of an impassioned lover of Christ,
the mighty orator who drew his
mystic lore from the Sacred Scrip-
tures and deserved to be styled by
Gregory IX. 'the Ark of the Testa-
ment.' His commentaries on the
divine pages may be likened to a
golden harp sending forth magnifi-
cent harmonies to the glory of the
Word Incarnate. The Child Jesus
Himself touched his lips and his
fingers, that they might pour forth
golden words. This inspired preacher
of the word of God, whom we call

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

Anthony of Padua, has trodden
these valleys and plains, has prayed
and watched in this lonely cave,
has slaked his thirst in this clear
water which is a reflection of the
purity of his soul. To-day I bid
you welcome, sons of St. Francis,
to this spot, once inhabited by your
brother, the great wonder-worker.
Proclaim Christ wheresoever you
go; ... and in all your strivings
imitate your holy brother in St.
Francis, the great St. Anthony of
Padua."

Brive is annually the resort of
thousands of pilgrims; and not
Brive only and the valley of the
Correze: everywhere and under
many forms St. Anthony is ven-
erated. At Vaucluse and elsewhere
it has been the custom to invoke
St. Anthony in order to insure a
plentiful harvest. In a breviary of
the fourteenth century belenging to
the diocese of Apt we find the follow-
ing form of blessing, it is the bless-
ing of the seed-grain:

12

172 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

" Bless, O Lord! this seed; and,
through the merits of our blessed
father St. Anthony, deign to mul-
tiply it, and cause it to bring forth
fruit a hundredfold; and preserve
it from lightning and tempest. Who
livest and reignest world without
end. Amen."

In the same volume is found the
following prayer used when a bless-
ing was invoked upon a child; and
a measure of corn the weight of
the child was distributed among
the poor:

"We humbly beseech Thy clem-
ency, O Lord Jesus Christ! through
the merits and prayers of our most
glorious father St. Anthony, that
Thou wouldst deign to preserve
from all ill fits, plague, epidemic,
fever and mortality -- this Thy
servant, who, in Thy name and in
honor of our blessed father St.
Anthony, we place in this balance
with wheat, the weight of his body,
for the comfort of the poor sick
who suffer in this hospital. Deign

The Wonder -Worker of Padva 173

to give him length of days, and
permit him to attain the evening
of life; and, by the merits and
prayers of the Saint we invoke,
grant him a portion in Thy holy
and eternal inheritance, guarding
and preserving him from all his
enemies. Who livest and reignest
with the Father and the Holy Ghost
world without end. Amen/'

J74 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

XXIV.

AN UNFADING MEMORY.

FROM the very first, confraternities
in honor of St. Anthony have existed
in many parts of the world. With
the revival of the spirit of Catholic
devotion, the love for St. Anthony
increased. His blessed name had
ever been associated with the relief
of tte wants of the poor; and a
favorite form of charity, in his name,
has been the liberal bestowal of
loaves among the hungry and im-
poverished. This bread has come
to be known as the bread of St.
Anthony.

Says a good woman, writing as
late as 1892, from Toulon:

11 1 promised bread to St. Anthony
for his poor if he would help me,
and he has helped me. All my

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 175

friends pray with me to the good
Saint, and all our troubles are com-
mended to him with a promise of
bread to his poor. We are astonished
at the graces thus obtained. One
of my most intimate friends prom-
ised a certain amount of bread every
day of her life if a member of her
family could be cured of a fault
that had caused her great grief for
three and twenty years, and the
prayer was granted. In thanks-
giving she bought a little statue of
St. Anthony, and we put it up in
a dark corner where we require a
big lamp to see it. And now my
backshop is filled all day with people
in fervent prayer. Not only do they
pray, but one would think that
they were paid to spread this devo-
tion, so zealously do they do so.
Sometimes a soldier, an officer, a
sea-captain, going for a long voyage,
will promise so much per month in
bread to St. Anthony if they make
their journey safely. Sometimes it
is a mother asking for the health

The Wonder -Worker of Padua

of her sick child, or perhaps for
the success of an examination. Then,
again, it is a family asking for the
conversion of one amongst them
who is dying and will not see a
priest; a servant out of a place, or
working people out of work; and
all these petitions, which are accom-
panied with the promise of bread,
are granted/'

The Universal Association of St.
Anthony of Padua, founded by Don
Locatilli at the request and with
the blessing of Pope Leo XIII., has
been established at Padua. It now
numbers nearly 260,000 members.
The Pious Union a similar organ-
ization is flourishing in Rome. Here
and there in England and Ireland,
chiefly in convents, the bread-givers
have given freely in St. Anthony's
name.

There is a humble little Franciscan
monastery church at Crawley, Sus-
sex, England. Within that church
is a chapel which for a long time
was not dedicated to any special

The Wonder-Worker of Padua 177

object. Recently a remarkably fine
portrait of St. Anthony was dis-
covered at Crawley; it was placed
in the unoccupied chapel, and the
chapel was dedicated to the Saint.
Thus was established the Guild of
St. Anthony; its object, the pro-
motion of devotion to St. Anthony
and to propagate the work of the
distribution of his Bread to the
Poor. ''Masses and other spiritual
advantages are given to its members,
who are placed under no other
obligation than the entering of their
names in the register kept for that
purpose at Crawley." The alms,
or the bread promised in the name
of St. Anthony, can be given wher-
ever the donor pleases. Any reader
who is interested in this beautiful
charity can learn full particulars by
applying in person or through the
mails to the Rev. Father Guardian,
O. S. F. C., Franciscan Monastery,
Crawley, Sussex, England.

When faith has been at a low
ebb devotion to our Saint has not

IT '8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

dwindled. At Auges, where there
is a very precious relic of St. An-
thony, the inhabitants have been
ever loyal to a man. A hard-
working peasant is reported to have
said to his son, with more enthu-
siasm than judgment: "You may
work on Sundays and you may
work on holydays even Christmas
and Easter if you must; but if
you are so wicked as to work on
St. Anthony's Day I will hang you
from the highest gable of the house/'
The body of St. Anthony was
brought into Padua on Tuesday.
It is a well-attested fact that no
single sufferer who invoked his aid
on that day failed to be cured. In
1617 a lady of Bologna, who in
her distress had appealed to St.
Anthony, saw in a dream his like-
ness. The Saint opened his lips
and said: "Go on nine consecutive
Tuesdays and visit the chapel of
the Friars Minor ; there receive Holy
Communion, and thy prayers shall
be granted." And it was as he

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 179

had promised her. This miracle gave
rise to the devotion of the Nine
Tuesdays in honor of St. Anthony;
later it was increased to thirteen,
in honor of the date of his death.

For more than thirty years the
body of the Saint remained in its
marble shrine in the Church of
Santa Maria Maggiore; but the
friars and the people were not
content, and in 1263 it was trans-
lated by St. Bona venture to the
high altar of a new church built
by the Friars Minor in his honor.
On opening the shrine at this time,
it was found that the body had
returned to dust, but the tongue
was incorrupt and of a natural
color. St. Bonaventure exclaimed
in a transport of devotion: "O
blessed tongue, which always didst
bless the Lord and cause others to
bless Him, now does it appear plainly
how highly thou wert esteemed by
God!"'

In 1310 his body was again
translated to a chapel which had

180 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

been built expressly for it. This
chapel did not satisfy the devotion
of the friars; and still another,
far more commodious and splendid,
was erected, and thither the remains
were translated in 1350. Many relics
had been scattered among churches
in various parts of Europe; and
these were, as far as possible,
.gathered together, and in 1745 they
were all solemnly deposited in the
magnificent receptacle where they
are now venerated.

In 1749 the church was nearly
destroyed by fire, yet the altar of
the Saint was quite uninjured. While
the flames were raging fiercely,
crowds of people were seen climbing
upon the sagging roof and hurrying
through the building in the midst
of smoke and falling timbers; and,
though many fell among the glow-
ing coals and were struck by flying
firebrands, no one was injured.

The church and the chapel are
among the richest and most beauti-
ful in the world, and these alone are

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 181

sufficient to attract thousands annu-
ally to Padua. His is the ruling
spirit there; one thinks only of
him. Often a hideous little carving
of bone or wood or metal is offered
you for a mere trifle ; and his medals,
his photographs, copies of portraits
of surpassing loveliness, are for sale
on every street corner. Within that
shrine what splendor delights the
eye! All that can be done with
marble and bronze, and silver and
gold and precious stones has been
superbly done in the ornamentation
of that wondrous mausoleum.

Three sunburnt fishermen were
kneeling with their foreheads resting
on the sculptured marble of the
tomb when I last drew near it. Is
not good San Antonio the protector
of all seafarers? Do not fair winds
come through his intercession? Are
not his medals and statuettes worn
by devout Christian sailors the wide
seas over?

Having spent hours of rare refresh-
ment in that glorious temple, and

182 The Wonder -Worker of Padua

gathered my little store of pious
objects, I returned to mine inn for
rest. From the windows I saw the
lofty walls of II Santo the Basilica
of San Antonio towering against
the sunset. There is nothing finer
than the proportions of this wondrous
structure. Larger than San Marco
at Venice, it is far more impressive
when viewed from without. There
are a hundred gables that toss like
a broken sea. Clusters of delicate
spires spring into space like frozen
fountains; and over all rise seven
splendid domes that seem to be
floating in mid-air. One almost fears
that the whole will melt away in
the twilight, and leave only the
spot that it once glorified like an
Arabian tale that is told. Surely
its creation was magical. Some
genie, sporting with the elements,
made marble soluble; and, dreaming
of the fabulous East, he blew this
pyramid of gigantic bubbles, and
had not the heart to let them break
and vanish. Or is it but another

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 183

miracle of the beloved Saint?
St. Anthony of Padua has been
hailed as the Eminent Doctor, the
defender of the Divinity of the In-
carnate Word, and the vindicator
of the Real Presence. He was also
the champion and the apostle of
the glorious mystery of Mary's As-
sumption, as the Patriarch of Assisi
had been of her Immaculate Con-
ception. It was St. Anthony who
uttered the versicle incorporated in
her Office on the Assumption : "The
august Mother of God has been
assumed into heaven and placed
above the angelic choirs." What
proof had he of this? Our Blessed
Lady appeared to him; with his
eyes he saw her in her glory; with
enraptured ears he listened to her
voice celestial as she said: "Be
assured, my son, that this my body,
which has been the living ark of the
Word Incarnate, has been preserved
from the corruption of the grave.
Be equally assured that, three days
after my death, it was carried upon

184. The Wonder -Worker of Padua

the wings of angels to the right
hand of the Son of God, where I
reign Queen. "

Therefore, with a heart filled with
indescribable joy, he exclaimed:
"The Virgin of Nazareth has, by a
singular privilege, been preserved
from the original stain and filled
with a plenitude of grace. Hail,
O Mother of God, city of refuge,
sublime mountain, throne of the
Most High, fruitful vine yielding
golden grapes, flooding the hearts
of men with the holy exaltation of
pure love! Hail, Star of the Sea!
Thy gentle and radiant light is our
guide in the darkness, showing us
the entrance to the harbor above.
Woe to the pilot whose eyes are
not fixed on thee! His frail bark
will become the plaything of the
storm, and will be swallowed up
in the foaming billows."

The glowing tributes which have
been paid to St. Anthony of Padua
would fill volumes, yet the noblest
tribute of all is the silent but ardent

The Wonder -Worker of Padua 183

love his millions of followers have
given him. Nothing need be added
to this, yet I will add what St.
Bonaventure said: that St. Anthony
was "an angelic soul," and that his
crown of glory was enriched with
all the gems of grace and perfec-
tion distributed amongst the other
saints. "He possessed the science
of the angels, the faith of the
patriarchs, the foreknowledge of the
prophets, the zeal of the apostles,
the purity of virgins, the austerities
of confessors, and the heroism of
martyrs. "

St. Antoninus, the illustrious Arch-
bishop of Florence, says of St. An-
thony : "He was a vessel of election,
an eagle in knowledge, a wonder-
worker beyond compare." And the
Franciscan Liturgy adds: "A violet
of humility, a lily of chastity, a
rose of divine charity." He was the
ardent advocate, the favorite and
the champion of the Sacred Heart.
Three centuries after his death the
Venerable Jane Mary of the Cross

186 The Wonder-Worker of Padua

describes the following vision with
which she was blessed:

"While in prayer on the Feast
of St. Anthony, I saw the soul of
this Saint borne by angels to the
feet of Christ. Our Lord opened
wide the wound of His Heart; and
this Heart, all radiant with light,
attracted and seemed, in some sort,
to absorb the soul of St. Anthony,
as the light of the sun absorbs all
other light. In the Heart of Jesus
the soul of the Saint appeared to
me like a precious gem of radiating
brilliancy, which filled all the cavity.
The varied play of its colors repre-
sented to me the virtues of the
Saint. They shone with marvellous
splendor in the ocean of light pro-
ceeding from the Heart of Jesus,
to the honor of Christ and the glory
of the Saint himself. Then Jesus
took this lustrous gem in His Heart
and presented it to His Heavenly
Father, who caused it to be admired
by the angels and saints."

The Wonder -Worker of Padua i8j

"When you hear that I am a
saint, then bless ye the Lord." These
words, that fell from the lips of the
youthful Anthony when he first
went in search of martyrdom, were
not addressed to his brethren at
the Abbey of Santa Cruz alone : they
are as fresh and as appealing now
as they ever were; they are alive
and shall always remain alive; and
to-day now this very hour they
are addressed to me and to you, and
to everyone that lives or shall live
in ages to come, even unto the end
of the world.

"Bless ye the Lord!"

LIFE OF THE CURE OF ARS

BY KATHLEEN O'MEARA

THE AvE MARIA Press, which has done so
much for Catholic literature and truth, has ren-
dered conspicuous service to the good cause in
publishing this volume. Readers of "Iza's
Story," "Narka," etc., will expect a rare treat
when they see Kathleen O'Meara's name, and
they will not be disappointed. In limpid,
pleasant style she tells the story of this wonder-
ful life, and we would recommend it to all,
especially to those weak-kneed believers who
are fond of concealing those supernatural aspects
of their religion at which the world is so much
inclined to scoff. Catholic Magazine, (South
Africa.)

A more beautiful story than Kathleen
O'Meara's "Life of the Cure of Ars" would be
hard to find. It is what might be called an
English life, that is, utterly free from the pietism
which for Americans so often disfigures the
true life of a saint in the hands of French and
Italian writers. It is not that our ideals of the
saint are different, but that for the most part
the saints have suffered from inferior biographers.
With these people the fasts, lashings, humilia-
tions of the saint, are more than his life. The
means is made the end for the sake of descrip-
tion, or to cover up the deficiencies of the
biographer. Donahoe's Magazine.

1 2 wo., cloth, $i.
THE AVE MARIA, Notre Dame, Indiana

A TROUBLED HEART, AND HOW IT
WAS COMFORTED AT LAST.

This is a very entertaining volume of auto-
biography. In it the author tells the story of that
portion of his life during which he had been
troubled at heart, and tortured by religious
doubt. His description of the various mental
states through which he passed, of the different
sects of which he had experience, of their
worship and usages, is most interesting and
entertaining. The author brings to his task a
very correct and graceful English style, and
shows in many passages of his book that he is
gifted with descriptive powers of a very high
order. This work can be read both with pleasure
and profit. The Irish Ecclesiastical Record.

"A Troubled Heart, and How It was Com-
forted at Last," is the title of a remarkably
well-written account of the conversion of a
Protestant to the Roman Catholic Church. It
is the soul experience of one who longed for
something more vivid and tangible than the
Protestant service gave him, and who found it
in the impressive ritual of the Roman Church.
Many passages of the book glow with suppressed
feeling, and are eloquent with a fervor which
comes straight from the heart. However he
may differ from the author, no reader can fail
to respect his evident sincerity and his literary
gifts. Sunday Chronicle, (San Francisco.)

i6mo., cloth, 75 cts.
THE AVE MARIA, Notre Dame, Indiana

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